LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS 
 
 PAPERS SELECTED BY 
 
 SAMUEL S. GREEN 
 
 Librarian of the Free Public Library^ Worcester, Mass. 
 
 71 TtI 
 
 New York 
 F. LEYPOLDT, Publisher 
 
 1883 
 
/I* 
 
 SCHOOt 
 
 Copyright, 1883. 
 By F. Leypoldt. 
 
 S. VT. GREEX'S SOX, 
 
 Printer, Electrotyper and Binder, 
 
 74 and 76 Beekman Street, 
 
 NEW YORK. 
 
NOTE. 
 
 The first of the following addresses and papers has 
 done much to convince teachers that important aid 
 may be had, in doing the work which they have to 
 do, by making a large use of libraries. 
 
 The others give accounts of successful experiments 
 made in different places, by librarians and teachers, in 
 bringing about a use of libraries which has proved 
 valuable to schools. 
 
 These papers are all reprints, but it has been 
 thought that a good purpose would be served by 
 bringing them together into a handy little volume, 
 which, if such a course seems desirable, it is proposed 
 to issue, subsequently, as a low-priced pamphlet, to be 
 distributed freely by librarians and other individuals, 
 and by school-boards, among teachers and library 
 officers. 
 
 S. S. G. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 TAGE 
 
 The Public Library and the Public Schools 5 
 
 By Charles Francis Adams, Jr. A paper prepared for the Teach 
 ers of the Public Schools of Quincy, Massachusetts, and read 
 to them on the 19th of May, 1876. [Reprinted from " The new- 
 departure in the Common Schools of Quincy and other papers 
 on educational topics." Boston: Estes & Lauriat, 1881.] 
 
 The Relation of the Public Library to the Public 
 
 Schools 25 
 
 By Samuel S. Green, of Worcester, Massachusetts. A paper read 
 at a meeting of the American Social Science Association, Sep- 
 tember 8, 1880. [Reprinted from the Library Journal, Vol. 5, 
 Nos. 9-10, September-October, 1880. The paper also appeared 
 in the Journal of Social Science, December, 1880.] 
 
 Libraries as Educational Institutions 56 
 
 Extract from " Aids and Guides for Readers." A yearly report 
 read by Samuel S. Green at a meeting of the.American Library 
 Association at Cincinnati, May, 1882. [From the Library Jour- 
 nal, Vol. 7, Nos. 7-8, July-August, 1882.] 
 
 The Public Library as an Auxiliary to the Public 
 
 Schools 74 
 
 By Robert C. Metcalf, Master of Wells School, Boston. Read at 
 a meeting of the American Institute of Instruction, at Sara- 
 toga, July 7, 1880. [Reprinted from " The lectures read before 
 the American Institute of Instruction." Boston: American In- 
 stitute of Instruction, 1880.] 
 
 The Relation of Libraries to the School System 89 
 
 By William E. Foster, of Providence, R. I. Read at a meeting of 
 the Rhode Island Institute of Instruction, January 16, 1880. [Re- 
 printed from "Three papers on Reading and English litera- 
 ture in schools," read at the 35th annual meeting of the Rhode 
 Island Institute of Instruction, January 15, 16, 17, 1880. Provi- 
 dence, R. I.: Institute of Instruction, 1880.] 
 
 A Plan of Systematic Training in Reading at School. 125 
 By William E. Foster. [Reprinted from the Library Journal, 
 Vol. 8, No. 2, February, 1883.] 
 
ILibvavitn autr Schools. 
 
 THE PUBLIC LIBRARY AND THE PUBLIC 
 SCHOOLS. 
 
 By Charles F. Adams, Jr. 
 
 As the result of a conversation I some time 
 since had with our School Superintendent, Mr. 
 Parker, and at his suggestion, I propose this 
 afternoon to say a few words to you about books 
 and reading; on the use, to come directly to the 
 point, which could be made of the Public Library 
 of the town in connection with the school system 
 in general, and more particularly with the High 
 and upper-grade Grammar Schools. I say 
 " could be made" intentionally, for I am very sure 
 that use is not now made ; and why it is not made 
 is a question which, in my double capacity of a 
 member of the School Committee and a trustee 
 of the Public Library, I have during the last few 
 years puzzled over a good deal. 
 
 You are all teachers in the common schools of 
 the town of Ouincy, and I very freely acknowl- 
 
6 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 edge that I think you* - course as such, especially 
 of late, has been marked by a good deal of zeal, 
 by a consciousness of progress, and a sincere de- 
 sire to accomplish good results. I am disposed 
 neither to find fault with you nor with our 
 schools, — as schools go. I should like, however, 
 to ask you this simple question : — Did it ever, 
 after all, occur to you, what is the great end and 
 object of all this common-school system? — Why 
 do we get all these children together, and labor 
 over them so assiduously year after year? — Now, 
 it may well be that it never suggested itself in 
 that way to you, but I think it may safely be as- 
 serted that the one best possible result of a com- 
 mon-school education, — its great end and aim, — 
 should be to prepare the children of the commu- 
 nity for the far greater work of educating them- 
 selves. 
 
 Now, in education, as in almost everything 
 else, there is a strong tendency among those en- 
 gaged in its routine work to mistake the means 
 for the end. I am always struck with this in go- 
 ing into the average public school. It was es- 
 pecially the case in the schools of this town four 
 years ago. Arithmetic, grammar, spelling, geog- 
 raphy and history were taught, as if to be able 
 to answer the questions in the text-books was the 
 great end of all education. It was instruction 
 
PUBLIC LIBRARY AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 7 
 
 through a perpetual system of conundrums. The 
 child was made to learn some queer definition 
 in words, or some disagreeable puzzle in figures, 
 as if it was in itself an acquisition of value, — 
 something to be kept and hoarded like silver 
 dollars, as being a handy thing to have in the 
 house. The result was that the scholars acquired 
 with immense difficulty something which they 
 forgot with equal ease ; and, when they left cur 
 grammar schools, they had what people are 
 pleased to call the rudiments of education, and 
 yet not one in twenty of them could sit down 
 and write an ordinary letter, in a legible hand, 
 with ideas clearly expressed, and in words cor- 
 rectly spelled ; and the proportion of those who 
 left school with either the ability or desire to 
 further educate themselves was scarcely greater. 
 
 Perhaps you may think this an exaggeration 
 on my part. If you do, I can only refer you to 
 the examination papers of the candidates for ad- 
 mission during any year to our High School. I 
 have had occasion to go over many- sets of them, 
 and I assure you they warrant the conclusion I 
 have drawn. 
 
 Going a step further and following the scholar 
 out into grown-up life, Infancy that a comparison 
 of experiences would show that scarcely one out 
 of twenty of those who leave our schools ever 
 
8 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 further educate themselves in any great degree, 
 outside, of course, of any special trade or calling 
 through which they earn a living. The reason 
 of this, I would now suggest, is obvious enough ; 
 and it is not the fault of the scholar. It is the 
 fault of a system which brings a community up 
 in the idea that a poor knowledge of the rudi- 
 ments of reading, writing, and arithmetic consti- 
 tutes in itself an education. Now, on the con- 
 trary, it seems to me that the true object of all your 
 labors as real teachers, if indeed you are such, — 
 the great end of the common-school system, is 
 something more than to teach children to read; 
 it should, if it is to accomplish its full mission, 
 also impart to them a love of reading. 
 
 A man or woman whom a whole childhood 
 spent in the common schools has made able to 
 stumble through a newspaper, or labor through 
 a few trashy books, is scarcely better off than one 
 who cannot read at all. Indeed, I doubt if he or 
 she is as well off, for it has long been observed 
 that a very small degree of book knowledge 
 almost universally takes a depraved shape. The 
 animal will come out. The man who can barely 
 spell out his newspaper confines his spelling in 
 nine cases out of ten to those highly seasoned 
 portions of it which relate to acts of violence, 
 and especially to murders. Among those who 
 
PUBLIC LIBRARY AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 9 
 
 make a profession of journalism this is a per- 
 fectly well known fact; and any one who doubts 
 it may satisfy himself on the subject almost any 
 day by a few words of inquiry at a news-stand. 
 Mr. Souther, in this town, I fancy, could impart 
 to any of you, who happen to be curious, a con- 
 siderable amount of information under this head. 
 A little learning is proverbially a dangerous 
 thing ; and the less the learning the greater the 
 danger. 
 
 Let us recur, then, to my cardinal proposition, 
 that the great end of all school education is to 
 make people able to educate themselves. You 
 start them ; that is all the best teacher can do. 
 Whether he is called a professor and lectures to 
 great classes of grown men at a university, or is 
 a country school-master who hammers rudiments 
 into children, he can do no more than this; but 
 this every teacher, if he chooses, can do. How 
 very few do it though ! Not one out of ten ; — 
 scarcely one out of twenty. It is here our system 
 fails. 
 
 I do not know that what I am about to sug- 
 gest has ever been attempted anywhere, but I feel 
 great confidence that it would succeed ; there- 
 fore, I would like to see it attempted in Quincy. 
 Having started the child by means of what we 
 call a common-school course, — having, as it were, 
 
TO LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 learned it to walk, — the process of further self- 
 education is to begin. The great means of self- 
 education is through books — through much read- 
 ing of books. But in our system of instruction 
 there is just here a missing link. In our schools 
 we teach children to read; — we do not teach them 
 how to read. That, the one all-important thing, — 
 the great connecting link between school-edu- 
 cation and self-education, — between means and 
 end, — that one link we make no effort to supply. 
 As long as we do not make an effort to supply it, 
 our school system in its result is and will remain 
 miserably deficient. For now, be it remembered, 
 the child of the poorest man in Ouincy — the off- 
 spring of our paupers even — has an access as free 
 as the son of a millionaire, or the student of Har- 
 vard College, to what is, for practical general use, 
 a perfect library. The old days of intellectual 
 famine for the masses are over, and plenty reigns. 
 Yet, though the school and the library stand on our 
 main street side by side, there is, so to speak, no 
 bridge leading from the one to the other. As far as 
 I can judge we teach our children the mechanical 
 part of reading, and then we turn them loose to 
 take their chances. If the child has naturally an 
 inquiring or imaginative mind, it perchance may 
 work its way unaided through the traps and pit- 
 falls of literature ; but the chances seem tome to 
 
PUBLIC LIBRARY AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. II 
 
 be terribly against it. It is so very easy, and so 
 very pleasant too, to read only books which lead 
 to nothing, — light and interesting and exciting 
 books, and the more exciting the better, — that it 
 is almost as difficult to wean ourself from it as 
 from the habit of chewing tobacco to excess, or 
 of smoking the whole time, or of depending for 
 stimulus on tea or coffee or spirits. Yet here, — 
 on the threshold of this vast field, you might 
 even call it this wilderness of general literature, 
 full as it is of holes and bogs and pitfalls all cov- 
 ered over with poisonous plants, — here it is that 
 our common-school system brings our children, 
 and, having brought them there, it leaves them 
 to go on or not, just as they please ; or, if they 
 do go on, they are to find their own way or to 
 lose it, as it may chance. 
 
 I think this is all wrong. Our educational sys- 
 tem stops just where its assistance might be made 
 invaluable, — just where it passes out of the me- 
 chanical and touches the individual, — just where 
 instruction ceases to be drudgery and becomes a 
 source of pleasure. Now, I do not propose for 
 myself any such task as an attempted radical re- 
 form of education. Each man has his own work 
 to do, and that is not mine. What I do want to 
 suggest to you Grammar School teachers is that 
 it is in the power of each one of you to introduce 
 
12 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 a great spirit of improvement into your own 
 schools, and at the same time the greatest pleas- 
 ure and interest a true teacher can have into 
 your own lives. 
 
 You know it is said that poets are born, not 
 made ; and the same is true of teachers. For 
 myself, I don't think I could teach; — if I had to 
 take my choice I would rather break stones 
 in the highway ; and yet other and better men 
 than I would rather teach than do anything 
 else. There is Dr. Dimmock at the Academy, 
 for instance. He found his place in life, and a 
 great one too, only when he got behind the mas- 
 ter's desk. He was born to teach boys, and, with 
 much happiness to himself and them, he is fulfill- 
 ing his destiny. But, though I never could teach 
 myself, I can see clearly enough that the one 
 thing which makes the true teacher and which 
 distinguishes him from the mechanical peda- 
 gogue, which any man may become, is the faculty 
 of interesting himself in the single pupil, — seeing, 
 watching, aiding the development of the indi- 
 vidual mind. I never tried it, but I know just 
 what it must be from my own experience in other 
 matters. I have a place here in town, for in- 
 stance, upon which I live ; and there I not only 
 grow fields of corn and carrots, but also a great 
 many trees. Now, my fields of corn or carrots 
 
PUBLIC LIBRARY AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 13 
 
 are to me what a mechanical pedagogue's school 
 is to him. I like to see them well ordered and 
 planted in even rows, all growing exactly alike, 
 and producing for each crop so many bushels of 
 corn or carrots to the acre, one carrot being 
 pretty nearly the same as another ; — and then, 
 when the Autumn comes and the farming term 
 closes, I prepare my land, as the pedagogue does 
 his school-room, for the next crop; — and the last 
 is over and gone. It is not so, however, with my 
 trees. They are to me just what his pupils are 
 to the born school-master, — to Dr. Dimmock, for 
 instance; in each one I take an individual inter- 
 est. I watch them year after year, and see them 
 grow and shoot out and develop. Now let me 
 apply my simile. You are, all of you, I hope, 
 and if you are not you at least believe yourselves 
 to be, born teachers, and not mechanical peda- 
 gogues ; so, of course, your schools ought to be 
 to you, not mere fields in which you turn out 
 regular crops of human cabbages and potatoes, 
 but they should be plantations also in which you 
 raise, at least, a few trees in the individual growth 
 of which you take a master's interest. This feel- 
 ing and this only it is which can make a teacher's 
 life ennobling, — the finding out among his pupils 
 those who have in them the material of superior 
 men and women, and then nurturing them and 
 
14 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 aiding in their development, and making of them 
 something which, but for their teacher, they never 
 would have been. These pupils are to their 
 teacher what my oak trees are to me ; — but for 
 me those trees would have died in the acorn, 
 probably, — at most they would have been mere 
 scrub bushes ; — but now through me, — wholly 
 owing to my intervention and care, — they are 
 growing and developing, and there are among 
 them those which some day, a hundred years, 
 perhaps, after my children are all dead of old age, 
 will be noble oaks. Then no one will know that 
 I ever lived, much less trouble himself to think 
 that to me those trees owed their lives, — yet it is 
 so none the less, and those are my trees no mat- 
 ter how much I am dead and forgotten. So of 
 your scholars. If you, during your lives as 
 teachers, can, among all your mass of pupils, find 
 out and develop through your own personal con- 
 tact only a few, — say half-a-dozen, — remarkable 
 men and women, who but for you and your ob- 
 servation and watchfulness and guidance would 
 have lived and died not knowing what they 
 could do, then, if you do nothing more than this, 
 you have done an immense work in life. 
 
 This dealing with the individual and not with 
 the class, is, therefore, the one great pleasure of 
 the true school-teacher's life. It can only be done 
 
PUBLIC LIBRARY AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 15 
 
 in one way, — you have to furnish the individual 
 mind the nutriment it wants, and, at the same 
 time, gently direct it in the way it should go. In 
 other words, if the teacher is going to give him- 
 self the intense enjoyment and pleasure of doing 
 this work, he cannot stop at the border of that 
 wilderness of literature of which I was just now 
 speaking, but he has got to take the pupil by the 
 hand and enter into it with him; — he must be more 
 than his pedagogue, he must be his guide, phi- 
 losopher and friend. And so the teacher, with 
 the scholar's hand in his, comes at last to the 
 doors of the Public Library. 
 
 When he gets there, however, he will probably 
 find himself almost as much in need of an in- 
 structor as his own pupils ; and here at last I 
 come to the immediate subject on which I want 
 to talk to you. I wish to say something of the 
 books and reading of children, — of the general 
 introduction into literature which, if you choose, 
 you are able to give your scholars, and which, if 
 you do give it to them, is worth more than all 
 the knowledge contained in all the text-books 
 that ever were printed. To your whole schools, 
 if you only want to, you can give an elementary 
 training as readers, and if in this matter you once 
 set them going in the way they should go, you 
 need not fear that they will ever depart from it. 
 
l6 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 Now, in the first place, let me suppose that you 
 want to start your schools in general on certain 
 courses of reading, — courses which would inter- 
 est and improve you, probably, hardly less than 
 your scholars, — how would you go about it? — 
 Through individual scholars, of course. You 
 would run your eye down your rows of desks and 
 pick out the occupants of two or three, and with 
 them you would start the flock. Human beings 
 are always and everywhere like sheep, in that 
 they will go where the bell-wether leads. Pick- 
 ing out the two or three, then, you turn to the 
 shelves of the library. And now you yourselves 
 are to be put to the test. You have dared to 
 leave the safe, narrow rut in which the pedagogue 
 travels, and you have ventured into the fields 
 with your pupils behind you, — do you know 
 the way here? — can you distinguish the firm 
 ground from the boggy mire? — the good sound 
 wood from the worthless parasite? — If you can, 
 you are indeed fit to be teachers. I hope you all 
 can, and in that case the suggestions I have to 
 make will be little better than wasted ; but if, as 
 I suspect, we none of us know any too much, 
 what I am about to say may be of some use. In 
 the first place, then, in trying to inoculate chil- 
 dren with a healthy love of good reading, — for 
 this is what we are talking of, the inoculation 
 
PUBLIC LIBRARY AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 17 
 
 of children with a taste for good, miscellaneous 
 reading, — in attempting that, the first thing to be 
 borne in mind is, that children are not grown 
 people. 
 
 There are few things more melancholy than to 
 reflect on the amount of useless labor which 
 good, honest, conscientious men and women have 
 incurred, and the amount of real suffering they 
 have inflicted on poor little children through the 
 disregard of this one obvious fact. When I was 
 young, I remember, my father, from a conscien- 
 tious feeling, I suppose, that he ought to do 
 something positive for my mental and moral 
 good and general aesthetic cultivation, made me 
 learn Pope's Messiah by heart, and a number 
 of other masterpieces of the same character. He 
 might just as well have tried to feed a sucking 
 baby on roast beef and Scotch ale ! Without 
 understanding a word of it, I learned the Mes- 
 siah by rote, and I have hated it, and its author 
 too, from that day to this, and I hate them now. 
 So, also, I remember well when I was a boy of from 
 ten to fourteen, — for I was a considerable de- 
 vourer of books, being incited to read Hume's 
 History of England, and Robertson's Charles 
 V., and Gibbon's Rome even, and I am not 
 sure I might not add Mitford's Greece. I can't 
 now say it was time thrown away; but it was 
 
l8 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 almost that. The first thing in trying to stimu- 
 late a love of reading is to be careful not to create 
 a disgust by trying to do too much. The great 
 masterpieces of human research, and eloquence, 
 and fancy are to boys pure nuisances. They 
 can't understand them ; they can't appreciate 
 them, if they do. When they have grown up to 
 them and are ready for them, they will come to 
 them of their own accord. Meanwhile you can't 
 well begin too low down. The intellectual like the 
 physical food of children can't well be too simple, 
 provided only it is healthy and nourishing. 
 
 Not that I for a moment pretend that I could 
 now suggest a successful course of grammar- 
 school literature myself. The intellectual nutri- 
 ment which children like those you have in 
 charge are fitted to digest and assimilate must 
 be found out through a long course of observa- 
 tion and experiment. I think I could tell you 
 what a boy in the upper classes of the academy 
 would probably like; but if I were to undertake 
 to lay out courses of reading for the scholars of 
 our grammar schools, it would certainly soon be- 
 come very clear that I did not know what I was 
 talking about. I am very sure I should not give 
 them the books they now read ; but I am scarcely 
 less sure they would not read the books I wculd 
 give them. Nothing but actual trial, and a pro- 
 
PUBLIC LIBRARY AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 1 9 
 
 longed trial at that, will bring us any results 
 worth having in this respect; and that trial is 
 only possible through you. 
 
 But, in a very general way, let us suppose 
 that we are beginning on the new system and 
 that your school is studying history and geog- 
 raphy, — we will take those two branches and see 
 what we could do in connection with them to 
 introduce your scholars into general literature. 
 History opens up the whole broad field of his- 
 torical works and also of biography, — it is closely 
 connected with fiction too, and poetry; geography 
 at once suggests the library of travels. Now, we 
 find that of all forms of literature there is not 
 one which in popularity can compare with fiction. 
 From the cradle to the grave, men and women 
 love story-telling. What is more, it is well they 
 do ; a good novel is a good thing, and a love for 
 good novels is a healthy taste ; yet there is no 
 striking episode in history which has not been 
 made the basis of some good work of fiction. 
 Only it is necessary for you to find that workout, 
 and to put it in the hands of your scholars ; they 
 cannot find it out unaided. 
 
 Next in popularity to works of fiction are trav- 
 els. A good, graphic book of travel and adven- 
 ture captivates almost every one, no matter what 
 the age. After travels comes biography ; any 
 
20 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 girl will read the story of Mary. Queen of Scots , 
 any boy the life of Paul Jones. Now, here is our 
 starting-point, and these fundamental facts we 
 cannot ignore and yet succeed ; human beings 
 have to be interested and amused, and they do 
 not love to be bored, — and children least of all 
 are an exception to the rule. If, then, we can 
 instruct and improve them while we are interest- 
 ing and amusing them, we are securing the result 
 we want in the natural and easy way. There is 
 no forcing. And this is exactly what any well- 
 informed and older person can do for any child. 
 They can, in the line of education, put it in the 
 way of instruction through amusement. 
 
 Take for instance geography, and suppose your 
 class is studying the map of Africa; — the whole 
 great field of African exploration and adventure 
 is at once opened up to you and your scholars. 
 Turn to the catalogue of our Public Library and 
 see what a field of interesting investigations is 
 spread out, first for yourself and then for them. 
 Here are a hundred volumes, and you want to 
 look them all over to see which to put in the 
 hands of your selected pupils, which are long and 
 dull, and which are compact and stirring, — which 
 are adapted to boys and which to girls, — and how 
 you will get your scholars started in them. Once 
 get them going, and the map will cease to be a 
 
PUBLIC LIBRARY AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 2 1 
 
 map and become a picture full of life and adven- 
 ture, not only to them, but to you. You will 
 follow with them Livingstone and Stanley and 
 Baker ; and the Pyramids will become realities 
 to them as they read of Moses and the Pharaohs, 
 and of Cleopatra and Hannibal. The recitation 
 then becomes a lecture in which the pupils tell 
 all they have found out in the books they have 
 read, and in which the teacher can suggest the 
 reading of yet other books ; while the mass of the 
 scholars, from merely listening to the few, are 
 stimulated to themselves learn something of all 
 these interesting things. 
 
 So of our own country and its geography. The 
 field of reading which w r ould charm and interest 
 any ordinary boy or girl in this connection is 
 almost unlimited, but they cannot find it out. 
 They need guidance. What active-minded boy, 
 for instance, but would thoroughly enjoy por- 
 tions at least of Parkman's Discovery of the 
 Great West, or his Pioneers of France in the 
 New World, or his Oregon Trail ? And yet 
 how many of you have ever glanced into one of 
 those absorbing books yourselves ? — Nor are they 
 long either; in each case one moderate-sized 
 volume tells the whole story. 
 
 Mark Twain, even, would here come in through 
 his " Roughing It," and Ross Browne through 
 
22 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 his "Apache Country." Once entered upon, 
 however, it would not be easy to exhaust the list. 
 The story of Mexico and Peru, — Cortez and 
 Pizarro, — the voyages of Columbus and the ad- 
 ventures of De Soto, — they have been told in fic- 
 tion and in history, and it is to-day a terrible shame 
 to us, and to our whole school system, that we 
 teach American history, and yet don't know how 
 to make the study of American history as inter- 
 esting to our children as a novel. 
 
 But, after all, as I have already said, when you 
 come to miscellaneous reading you cannot lay 
 down general rules applicable to all cases; you 
 have got to try experiments and watch them as 
 they progress. To induce some of you to try 
 these experiments has been my object in thus 
 meeting you to-day. I believe you would find 
 that so doing would lend a new life, a new inter- 
 est, a new significance to your profession. 
 
 When the catalogue of the Public Library was 
 published a year ago, I caused one copy of it to 
 be specially bound for the use of each Grammar 
 School. I was in hopes that the teachers would 
 use them in connection with the studies in those 
 schools, and would induce the scholars to use 
 them too. As I have visited the schools since, I 
 have usually taken occasion to ask for those cata- 
 logues, and I am sorry to say I have generally 
 
PUBLIC LIBRARY AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 23 
 
 found them — there are two or three notable ex- 
 ceptions to this remark — locked away in some 
 drawer of the master's desk, and looking on ex- 
 amination most suggestively fresh and clean. 
 My hint had not been taken. I now state the 
 point more plainly. I want very much indeed to 
 see our really admirable town library become a 
 more living element than it now is in our school 
 system, — its complement, in fact. Neither trustee 
 nor librarian — no matter how faithful or zealous 
 they may be — can make it so ; for we cannot 
 know enough of the individual scholars to give 
 them that which they personally need, and which 
 only they will take ; — you cannot feed them until 
 you know what they like ; and that, we, in deal- 
 ing with the mass, cannot get at. You teachers, 
 however, can get at it if you choose. To enable 
 you to do this, the trustees of the library have 
 adopted a new rule under which each of your 
 schools maybe made practically a branch library. 
 The master can himself select and take from the 
 library a number of volumes, and keep them on 
 his desk for circulation among the scholars under 
 his charge. He can study their tastes and ran- 
 sack the library to gratify them. Nay more, if 
 you will but find out what your scholars want, — 
 what healthy books are in demand among them, 
 — the trustees of the library will see to it that 
 
24 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 you do not want material. You shall have all the 
 books you will call for. When, indeed, you be- 
 gin to call, we shall know exactly what to buy ; 
 and then, at last, we could arrange in printed 
 bulletins the courses of reading which your ex- 
 perience would point out as best, so that every 
 book would be accessible. From that time both 
 schools and library would begin to do their full 
 work together, and the last would become what 
 it ought to be, the natural complement of the 
 first, — the People's College. 
 
THE RELATION OF THE PUBLIC LIBRARY 
 TO THE PUBLIC SCHOOL. 
 
 By Samuel S. Green. 
 
 It is obviously important to maintain close re- 
 lations between libraries and educational insti- 
 tutions which are designed for students whose 
 minds are somewhat mature. 
 
 A wise college professor encourages and stimu- 
 lates learners to look at subjects from many 
 points of view, to examine processes by which 
 scholars reach conclusions, and to make investi- 
 gations themselves. Such methods only are re- 
 quisite when a period of history is to be studied, 
 opinions regarding questions in political econo- 
 my or natural history to be considered, an Eng- 
 lish or classical author to be interpreted, or con- 
 troverted questions in philosophy or theology to 
 be discussed. 
 
 Students in advanced educational institutions 
 should therefore have free access to the best 
 books in all departments of knowledge. They 
 need instructors who, however positive their own 
 opinions may be in regard to controverted ques- 
 
26 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 tions, and however earnest they may be in utter- 
 ing these convictions, nevertheless are animated 
 by a broad, unsectarian spirit in teaching. They 
 need, also, books to enable them to pursue their 
 studies in accordance with the views and spirit of 
 such instructors. 
 
 At Brown University it is considered practica- 
 ble to allow students to go into the alcoves with- 
 out permission, and take from the shelves such 
 books as they wish to use. 
 
 While inspecting, three years ago, the library 
 in the building especially devoted to the study of 
 Natural History at Oxford University, I noticed 
 that much space was given to collections of books 
 needed by students in their daily work. These 
 books were kept by themselves, and old books 
 were withdrawn from the shelves and new ones 
 added as occasion required. Students had free 
 access to these collections, and were thus kept 
 from the discouragement which young inquirers 
 (may I not say nearly all inquirers ?) feel in select- 
 ing, with no aid but that afforded by the cata- 
 logue of a large library, such books as are needed 
 in somewhat limited researches. 
 
 In Harvard College library, a large number of 
 the professors designate works to be set aside, 
 on shelves prepared for the purpose, for the use 
 of students in pursuing courses of instruction 
 
PUBLIC LIBRARIES AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 27 
 
 given by them, and I learn from its distinguished 
 librarian that it is his purpose to select from the 
 great collection of books under his charge 30,000 
 or 40,000 volumes, to be used by students as a 
 working library. 
 
 They are to have the privilege of roaming at 
 pleasure through the shelving devoted to this col- 
 lection, and of rummaging at will among the 
 books. As works become antiquated they will 
 be removed from these shelves, and new ones 
 will be constantly placed upon them.* 
 
 Additional advantages are within reach, where, 
 as in Rochester University, it is the practice of 
 several of the professors to meet students at the 
 library during specified hours, to talk over with 
 them subjects that they are interested in and as-, 
 sist in the selection of books needed in their in- 
 vestigation and treatment. Where, as in the 
 largest colleges of the country, it is not custom- 
 ary for the professors to meet many of the stu- 
 dents excepting in the class or lecture-room, 
 there should be a librarian or competent assist- 
 ant, whose duty it is to give whatever time is 
 needed in rendering assistance to persons engaged 
 
 * Students in Harvard University now (Jan., 1883) have cards 
 given to them which admit them to such portions of the great 
 stack as contain books treating of subjects in which they are 
 making special studies. 
 
28 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 in investigation. Such an officer should be care- 
 ful not to render the inquirer dependent, and only 
 to remove obstacles enough to make investiga- 
 tion attractive. 
 
 The librarian of a college can easily supplement 
 his general knowledge of books with the special 
 bibliographical information had by the professors 
 of the institution. 
 
 The student often needs to be referred to 
 sources of information. If, for example, he has 
 to consider one of the applications of science to 
 the arts, arrangements at the library should be 
 such that he will have standard works and mono- 
 graphs pointed out to him, and his attention 
 called to the sets of proceedings and transactions 
 of learned societies and periodicals which should 
 be consulted by him, with the aid of indexes, in 
 seeking for the information he desires. 
 
 It is not enough to set aside in a college library 
 collections of books illustrative of the various 
 branches of knowledge. Students need, also, the 
 assistance of accomplished professors or a well- 
 informed librarian in making researches. This 
 assistance leads to a more thorough performance 
 of work in hand. 
 
 It does more than this, however. Its best re- 
 sults are found in the knowledge which it gives 
 the inquirer of finding out how to get at informa- 
 
PUBLIC LIBRARIES AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 20 
 
 tion by the use of books, and in the formation in 
 him of the habit of making investigations and in 
 the acquisition of facility in their conduct. 
 
 It may be mentioned incidentally that where 
 higher educational institutions depend upon 
 public libraries for books, and these are situated 
 at a distance from their buildings, it has proved 
 useful, in one instance, at least, to enlist students 
 in the work of making an index of some of the 
 principal sets of transactions which they and the 
 professors have oftenest to consult, to be kept 
 where its use will be convenient to them. 
 
 Academies and high schools need access to 
 well-furnished libraries. Worcester, Massachu- 
 setts, is a small city of about 60,000 inhabitants. 
 It has many educational institutions besides its 
 public schools. In addition to the Free Institute 
 of Industrial Science and the College of the Holy 
 Cross, institutions which make a constant use of 
 the Public Library, but which for our present 
 purpose should be classed with colleges, it has 
 a State Normal School, an endowed academy, a 
 military school, and several smaller schools for 
 young ladies and boys. It has, also, a large high 
 school. Teachers and pupils from all of these 
 schools make a large use of the Public Library 
 every day. Thus the students at the Normal 
 School use it for a variety of purposes. They are 
 
30 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 required, for example, to choose subjects which 
 they will talk about before the school for a few 
 minutes. They come to the library with sub- 
 jects selected on which they wish for information. 
 This they get when they can from reference 
 books which they are allowed to consult without 
 asking permission. They call, too, for such books 
 as they desire. When, however, as is frequently 
 the case, they do not know what the sources of in- 
 formation are, or which of several books it is well 
 to read or study, they go to the librarian for as- 
 sistance, and he points out to them books, pam- 
 phlets, and articles which contain the material 
 desired by them in the form they wish. The li- 
 brarian, in searching for information, conducts 
 the search, in so far as is possible, in the presence 
 of the inquirer, so as to teach him how to get at 
 information desired. 
 
 These pupils are also required to write essays 
 on various topics illustrative of the principles and 
 art of instruction. The librarian refers them to 
 the writings of such authors as Richter and Rous- 
 seau, Locke and Bain, Mann and Spencer, and to 
 sets of such periodicals as Barnard's Journal of 
 Education and to series of volumes containing 
 addresses and accounts of discussions in the an- 
 nual meetings of the American Institute of In- 
 struction, the National Educational Association 
 
PUBLIC LIBRARIES AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 3 1 
 
 and other bodies, and to reports of the best super- 
 visors and superintendents of schools. Professor 
 Russell, the principal of the Normal School, in 
 writing about the connection between the Public 
 Library and this school last April, made the fol- 
 lowing statements : "I find, upon inquiry, that 
 during the current school year, beginning last 
 September, not less than 64 per cent, of the stu- 
 dents of the State Normal School have had oc- 
 casion to visit the Public Library to pursue inves- 
 tigations connected with their studies, several re- 
 porting upward of twenty such visits, and this 
 notwithstanding the fact that the school is situ- 
 ated at a distance from the library, and that we 
 have an excellent though small working library 
 of our own. The works thus consulted cover a 
 wide range, but are chiefly in the departments of 
 science, history, art, politics, statistics, biography, 
 and general literature. So far as our own school 
 is concerned, therefore, we could not without 
 serious loss dispense with so valuable an auxiliary 
 in the training of teachers for the public schools. 
 Moreover, I find that our graduates who go away 
 from Worcester to teach, very generally complain of 
 the inconvenience and privation they feel in being 
 cut off from the privileges of the Public Library." 
 In the high school some of the teachers, for the 
 purpose of cultivating readiness in expression and 
 
32 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 ease in composition, as well as with the object 
 of rendering the knowledge of subjects taught 
 thorough, require scholars to talk and write fre- 
 quently about subjects suggested by the lessons 
 and lectures, and thus to pursue limited investi- 
 gations in such branches of knowledge as history, 
 chemistry, English literature, and classical biog- 
 raphy and antiquities. It is customary in this 
 school, when questions occur to the teacher that 
 cannot be answered by the use of books at hand, or 
 are asked by scholars, for a teacher or pupil to go to 
 the library before the next session of the school, 
 and by consultation with the librarian or an assist- 
 ant select works containing the answers sought. 
 
 An advanced class, which is listening to lec- 
 tures on some of the more important practical 
 topics in political economy and the science of 
 republican government, will be told to give in 
 writing the history of the movement for civil 
 service reform and an account of the arguments 
 brought forward in favor of plans proposed to 
 further it and in opposition to them, or a descrip- 
 tion of the proceedings of Congress which led tc 
 the formation of the Electoral Commission after 
 the last* presidential election, or of the arguments 
 used for and against woman suffrage. 
 
 1876. 
 
PUBLIC LIBRARIES AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. $$ 
 
 Another advanced class will be required to 
 write essays on such subjects as fermentation 
 and disinfectants. 
 
 Some of the teachers come to the library, and 
 in consultation with the librarian select large 
 numbers of books, more or less closely connected 
 with the studies which scholars are at the time 
 pursuing, and recommend them to pupils to read 
 in connection with their lessons or for entertain- 
 ment. 
 
 Many of the teachers consult the librarian in 
 regard to books to be used by them in their own 
 preparation for class work. 
 
 Some teachers bring classes to the library to see 
 illustrations of the architecture of Greece and 
 Rome, or specimens of early printing and illu- 
 minations, or examples of the work of great ar- 
 tists. They are received there in a large room, 
 furnished with a table and settees, and well 
 heated and lighted.* 
 
 Mr. Samuel Thurber, the principal of the high 
 school, wrote in a paper which is dated June 15, 
 1879, as follows : 
 
 * An account of other experiments which have been success- 
 fully made since this paper was written, to bring about a close 
 connection between the High School and the Public Library in 
 Worcester, may be found at the close of the paper " Libraries 
 as Educational Institutions," which immediately follows thi? 
 article. 
 
34 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 " Pupils of the high school, in common with 
 other citizens of Worcester, are exceptionally 
 favored in their opportunities for reading and 
 investigation in the Free Public Library. That 
 they take advantage of these admirable facilities 
 is evident to any one who sits for an hour in the 
 afternoon with the librarian, and observes the 
 boys and girls, of all classes, who come with their 
 questions concerning almost all matters in his- 
 tory, science, and literature. The librarian and 
 his assistants must know pretty well what is go- 
 ing on in the school. . . . There is a post-merid- 
 ian session of the school every day over in Elm 
 street. While the regular teachers are hurrying 
 and worrying with college classes, these afternoon 
 teachers in the other building are patiently hav- 
 ing their session, which does not end at any par- 
 ticular time, but only when each questioner is 
 answered, or at least shown how to find his an- 
 swer. We do not see why these Elm-street folks 
 are not just as much high-school teachers as those 
 who congregate each morning in the great build- 
 ing with the tower." 
 
 Again, under date of April 5, 1880, Mr. Thurber 
 writes: "As an ally of the high school, the Pub- 
 lic Library is not merely useful ; it is absolutely 
 indispensable. By this I mean that without the 
 Library our work would have to be radically 
 
PUBLIC LIBRARIES AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 35 
 
 changed for the worse, and would become little 
 better than mere memorizing of text-books. Our 
 teachers and pupils throng the library, and there 
 acquire the habit of investigation, and of inde- 
 pendent, well-grounded opinion on a multitude 
 of subjects of the utmost importance to citizens in 
 a republican State. Without the school, occasion 
 for exploring the Library would arise much less 
 frequently ; and without the Library, the desire 
 for knowledge constantly awakened in the school 
 would have to go unsatisfied." 
 
 The teachers and scholars of the grammar and 
 some lower grades of schools may derive great 
 advantages from the use of facilities which it is 
 in the power of public libraries to afford them. 
 Few friends of education seem to have found out, 
 however, that a close connection between public 
 libraries and schools of these grades is practicable, 
 even when they have come to realize that it is de- 
 sirable. Wishing, therefore, to give a practical 
 turn to this paper, I think I cannot do better 
 than to write out an account of some efforts in 
 this direction made in Worcester during the last 
 winter and spring. Four gentlemen interested 
 in the movement — namely, the Superintendent of 
 Public Schools, a member of the School Com- 
 mittee, who was also a member of the Board of 
 Directors of the Public Library, the principal of 
 
36 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 the Normal School, and the librarian of the 
 Public Library — came together late in the fall of 
 1879, for the purpose of considering whether it 
 was desirable and feasible to bring about a con- 
 siderable use for school purposes of the books in 
 the Public Library, by the teachers and pupils 
 of the schools of the seventh, eighth, and ninth 
 grades. 
 
 These gentleman agreed that the studies of 
 scholars would be made pleasanter and more pro- 
 fitable were such use to be made of the Public 
 Library. 
 
 They thought, also, that in the event of the 
 establishment of a close connection between the 
 Library and these grades of schools, much good 
 might be done in guiding the home reading of 
 children at an age when the habits of reading and 
 study are forming. 
 
 But an obstacle suggested itself at the start, 
 namely, the crowded state of the course of study. 
 This was overcome by deciding to confine the at- 
 tention, in the beginning, to efforts to secure the 
 benefits first mentioned, and even in this direc- 
 tion to aim only at the gradual introduction of 
 improved methods. The conclusions reached 
 were that it was advisable to proceed to the im- 
 mediate use of attractive library books in the 
 study of geography, and that in order to get the 
 
PUBLIC LIBRARIES AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 37 
 
 additional time needed in carrying the new plan 
 into execution, as well as for the purpose of mak- 
 ing the exercise in reading more interesting and 
 useful, the reading of classes should be largely 
 done from carefully selected books of travel in- 
 stead of from reading-books. The Superintend- 
 ent of Schools invited the librarian to lay the 
 plan proposed before the teachers in the grades of 
 schools mentioned above, and when they had been 
 called together he pointed out to them that there 
 were many things that could be done in schools 
 to better advantage than at present were there a 
 close connection between the Library and the 
 schools; offering at the same time to aid them 
 in doing any good work they might wish to un- 
 dertake, but advising them to try the limited plan 
 which had been agreed upon at the meeting of 
 the gentlemen just mentioned, whether they at- 
 tempted anything else or not. 
 
 The teachers listened in an interested manner, 
 and many of them showed not only readiness but 
 anxiety to undertake the work it was suggested 
 they should do. The librarian then invited them 
 to select some country that they would like to 
 have illustrated by means of books belonging to 
 the library. They selected one, and came to the 
 Library building the next half-holiday to listen 
 to the promised exposition. The librarian had 
 
38 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 before him, say, one hundred volumes relating to 
 the country in the description of which aid was 
 to be afforded, and pointed out wherein the value 
 of each one consisted to assist teachers and 
 scholars in studying geography. They saw at 
 once that valuable aid could be had from the 
 Librar}- in their work of teaching, and the next 
 step taken by the librarian was to invite them to 
 tell him what countries the children were study- 
 ing about at that time, and to keep him informed 
 in regard to those they were at work upon at 
 other times, in order that he might help them to 
 pick out works suitable for school use. 
 
 Books were at once selected for the immediate 
 use of teachers and scholars. The teachers 
 needed books of travel and other works to read 
 themselves, and from which to select interesting 
 passages for children to read in the class or to be 
 read to them, and incidents to be related to the 
 scholars orally. Volumes had to be picked out, 
 too, for the children to use in the place of read- 
 ing-books — books of the right size, well printed, 
 freely illustrated with really good wood-cuts or 
 engravings from metal, written in good English 
 and adapted to the ages of the children to whom 
 they were to be given, and calculated to interest 
 them. Books were also selected that treated of 
 subjects closely connected with the lessons, for 
 
PUBLIC LIBRARIES AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 39 
 
 children to read by themselves in unoccupied 
 hours in school, or for entertainment and im- 
 provement at home. The Library arranged to 
 issue two new kinds of cards, one for the benefit 
 of teachers, the other to be used by teachers for 
 the benefit of scholars. On cards of the first kind 
 six books might be taken out by instructors, to 
 be used in preparing themselves for school work 
 or for serious study in any direction. On the 
 other kind of cards it was permissible to take 
 out twelve volumes, for the use of scholars whose 
 reading teachers had undertaken to supervise. 
 These cards it was supposed would be used chiefly 
 for the benefit of such children as were not entitled 
 by age to have one of the cards usually issued by 
 the Library, or whose parents had neglected or 
 been unwilling to take out cards for their use. 
 Teachers were invited to bring classes to the 
 Library to look over costly collections of photo- 
 graphs and engravings illustrative of the scenery, 
 animals, and vegetation of different countries, and 
 of street views in cities. 
 
 A few obstacles were met with. For instance, 
 teachers wished, before adopting the new meth- 
 ods in studying geography, to know whether ex- 
 aminations at the end of the school term were to 
 be on the text-book alone. They were assured 
 by the proper officers that, if they adopted the 
 
40 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 system of teaching, examinations should be made 
 to conform to it. It soon became apparent that 
 some of the more enterprising teachers, by a skil- 
 ful use of the facilities afforded at the Library, 
 got more than their proper proportion of the 
 books on a given subject in which there was an 
 interest felt in several schools at once, and kept 
 books out of the Library so long as to prevent 
 other teachers from working to advantage. The 
 heads of buildings were called together, and re- 
 moved these difficulties by making certain agree- 
 ments satisfactory to themselves and the librarian, 
 in regard to the time the teachers in any one 
 building should keep out books, and respecting 
 other pertinent matters. 
 
 Soon a good start in our work was secured and 
 most of the obstacles disappeared. More dupli- 
 cates were needed than could be supplied at once, 
 but by consultation and a careful consideration 
 of means at our disposal, this difficulty was 
 lessened. It will disappear altogether in time, 
 because, when a close connection is established 
 between schools and libraries, the latter will con- 
 sider carefully the needs of the former, and add 
 every year large numbers of books on all sub- 
 jects taught in the schools, and of works which 
 it is wholesome for children to use in home read- 
 ing. As the course of studies in the schools 
 
PUBLIC LIBRARIES AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 41 
 
 remains the same, or nearly so, year by year, the 
 Library will soon have on its shelves books 
 enough to supply adequately the needs of teach- 
 ers and scholars. 
 
 One or two general features of the plan I have 
 described should be mentioned. An earnest 
 effort was made to bring about intimate relations 
 between the librarian and teachers, so that the 
 latter would feel free to state all their wants and 
 difficulties, and the librarian have an opportunity 
 of finding out whatever is faulty in his arrange- 
 ments and procedure. Much has been left to the 
 judgment of individual teachers. It is always 
 important that this should be done. It seems 
 doubly so in a case such as the present, where 
 but few results of experience are obtainable. 
 Good results have followed the movement in 
 Worcester. One hundred and nineteen* teachers 
 took out either a teacher's or a pupil's card 
 during the four months that elapsed after putting 
 the plans in execution before the close of the 
 schools for the summer vacation. Seventy-seven 
 of these teachers took out both kinds of cards. 
 All the cards taken out have been used. Most 
 of them have been used constantly, and the num- 
 
 * There are about 200 teachers of all grades in the public 
 schools and, say, 50 in private schools. 
 
42 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 ber of books given out on them has been large. 
 Besides these, a very large number of books has 
 been circulated by means of cards commonly 
 used in the Library, which scholars have given 
 up to their teachers with a request for assistance 
 in the selection of books for general reading. 
 
 The testimony of teachers and scholars has 
 been uniformly to the effect that the use of books 
 from the library has added much to the profit- 
 ableness and interest of the exercises in reading 
 and geography. It has been noticed that scholars 
 enjoy reading from a well-illustrated book of 
 travels {e.g., " Zigzag Journeys," or Knox's "Boy 
 Travellers in the East "), and that in its use they 
 read understanding^ and with increased expres- 
 sion. The members of the class when not read- 
 ing feel inclined to listen, and, when asked, show 
 ability to tell the teacher what others have been 
 reading about. Scholars break off from the 
 reading lesson, too, with a desire for its continu- 
 ance. Two ladies having charge of a room in 
 one of the grammar-school buildings tell me that 
 they have fitted up a dressing-room, in which 
 they arrange on a table illustrated books taken 
 from the Library, and that as a reward for good 
 recitations one day they allow scholars to go into 
 that room the next day, a dozen or so at a time, 
 to gather around the table to look at the illustra- 
 
PUBLIC LIBRARIES AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 43 
 
 tions and listen to the teacher's description of 
 countries illustrated. These teachers say that 
 lessons have been much better learned since the 
 adoption of this plan than before, and announce 
 that they intend to teach geography largely in this 
 way in future. 
 
 In doing the work I have been describing, it 
 was hoped that, besides rendering study more 
 profitable and agreeable to children, they would 
 learn, incidentally, that there are many books 
 which are interesting and yet not story books. 
 Teachers tell me this has been the case. Two 
 in particular have stated that boys who were in 
 the habit of reading New York story-papers and 
 dime novels have gratefully received wholesome 
 books recommended by them. The books and 
 papers they had been reading had been thrust 
 on their attention. They knew of no others that 
 are interesting. 
 
 One of these teachers says that some of the 
 scholars reminded her of hungry men, unable 
 to get nourishing food, in seizing upon anything 
 they could lay hands on to satisfy a longing for 
 reading-matter. One of the grammar-school 
 principals, with the aid of some of his assistants, 
 has done a very considerable work in influencing 
 the reading of his scholars. He has used teach- 
 ers' and pupils' cards held in the building under 
 
44 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 his charge, and in talking with the scholars has 
 incited them to ask him to take possession of 
 their cards and help them pick out books. Two 
 of his assistants have made it a part of their 
 work to consult the catalogues of the Library 
 and printed and manuscript lists of books which 
 the librarian placed in their hands, and in the 
 use of these facilities and by the aid of the libra- 
 rian to select large, numbers of books for the use 
 of scholars. This principal sends to the Library 
 cards for fifty books at a time. The books are 
 taken to the school and put in the charge of one 
 of the scholars who has been made librarian. 
 They are looked over by the teachers, and some 
 volumes are retained by them to be used in the 
 reading exercise or for silent reading in connec- 
 tion with the lessons. Most of the books, how- 
 ever, the scholars are allowed to examine freely, 
 with the object of selecting from them such as 
 they find interesting to take away from the build- 
 ing to read at home. It has seemed to me that 
 this grammar-school instructor and his assist- 
 ants are doing a very important work for the 
 benefit of the community. 
 
 In doing this kind of work a special catalogue 
 of, say, 2000 volumes is very much needed. 
 Such lists of books which have been issued in 
 Boston and elsewhere for use in schools as have 
 
PUBLIC LIBRARIES AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 45 
 
 come under my notice are inadequate. They are 
 made up in altogether too large a proportion of 
 books which, however excellent in themselves, 
 are only adapted to the capacity of mature pupils. 
 Sufficient care is not taken in them to designate 
 the age of children for which particular books 
 are designed. What is wanted especially is a 
 selection of books for children between the ages 
 of eleven and fifteen, every one of which is 
 known from actual perusal by competent persons 
 to be really a good book, and one adapted to the 
 capacity of young folks. I have recently made 
 some efforts to have such a catalogue prepared, 
 and I am happy to be able to state that several 
 ladies in Boston who are very familiar with this 
 kind of work, and the value of whose labors has 
 already been thoroughly tested, are now engaged 
 preparing such a list.* I hope this can be pub- 
 lished in the course of a few months. It is in- 
 tended to use notes to show what the contents 
 of a book are when its title does not indicate 
 them. Meanwhile, I can only refer teachers to 
 such sources of information as I mentioned in 
 
 * This list has never been published, but its place is well 
 tilled by " Books for the Young-," a catalogue prepared by Miss 
 C. M. Hewins, recently issued by F. Leypoldt, 31 Park Row, 
 N. Y. 
 
46 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 an essay on " Sensational Fiction," read before 
 the American Library Association at its meeting 
 in the summer of 1879 (and published subse- 
 quently in the Library Journal and privately 
 printed in pamphlet form), and to librarians and 
 other persons who may be supposed to have spe- 
 cial information regarding books. 
 
 Among ways not before mentioned in which the 
 teachers of grammar and lower grades of schools 
 have used the library are the following: Some 
 have requested every member of a class to go to 
 the library to get information about some of the 
 mountains, water-falls, or mineral springs of the 
 United States, or about other specified objects 
 to be embodied afterward in short compositions. 
 One teacher has adopted a plan which, as I have 
 stated, is in use in the high school, and has 
 brought a class of children to the Library build- 
 ing to look at costly representations of the 
 scenery, occupations, buildings, costumes, etc., 
 found in China and Japan. It is customary with 
 some teachers, when the scholars are studying 
 American history, to procure from the Library 
 graphic accounts of periods covered by the current 
 lessons, to lend to pupils to use in the evening 
 in acquiring a more extended knowledge of 
 incidents treated of only briefly in the portion of 
 the text-book studied during any particular day. 
 
PUBLIC LIBRARIES AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 47 
 
 One teacher, whose school is situated at a dis- 
 tance from the Library building, asked a wealthy- 
 citizen to buy for the school a hundred or more 
 of the books which she most needed in her work. 
 He complied with her request at once, and after 
 several consultations with the librarian she made 
 an admirable selection of books, which were 
 bought for her at the low rates at which libraries 
 make purchases. 
 
 Even in lower grades of schools than the 
 seventh, considerable assistance may be afforded 
 teachers when towns are enlightened enough to 
 spend money in providing in their libraries books 
 adapted to little children, as well as those suited 
 to older boys and girls and persons who have 
 grown up. Several of them have found such 
 books as "Tiny's Natural History in words of 
 four letters," by A. L. Bond, and bound volumes 
 of the Nufsery, as well as stories such as those 
 in Miss Edgeworth's " Parent's Assistant" and 
 Grimm's " Fairy Tales," very useful in doing 
 school work. 
 
 Valuable suggestions in regard to work that 
 may be done by the cooperation of schools and 
 libraries are to be found in a paper read by Mr. 
 William E. Foster, librarian of the Providence 
 Public Library, before the Rhode Island Insti- 
 tute of Instruction last January, and recently 
 
48 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 published by the institute in a pamphlet with 
 two other papers.* 
 
 Of teachers in Boston who have used the Pub- 
 lic Library in that city in connection with school 
 work, the one whose use is oftenest mentioned 
 is Mr. Robert C. Metcalf, master of the Wells 
 Grammar School for girls.t Unless I misunder- 
 stand a recent utterance of Mr. Metcalf, there is 
 only one kind of work that he has found it feasi- 
 ble to do in connection with the Public Library 
 — namely, that of teaching children to read at- 
 tentively and with comprehension of what they 
 are reading. He sends to the library for, say, 
 twenty copies of some such publication asTowle's 
 " Pizarro," or one of the longer poems of Long- 
 fellow, has every member of the class read the 
 book selected very carefully, a portion at a time, 
 and sets times when he will examine them on 
 the parts of a book assigned for reading, to see 
 whether they know just what the author has 
 written, and have studied his characteristics in 
 expression. 
 
 This is an excellent exercise. Valuable aid in 
 conducting it maybe found in School Documents 
 
 * Mr. Foster's paper is reprinted in this pamphlet, 
 t A paper by Mr. Metcalf which gives an account of the work 
 he has done in Boston may be found in this pamphlet. 
 
PUBLIC LIBRARIES AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 49 
 
 Nos. 17 and 29, 1877, and 21, 1878, issued by the 
 supervisors of schools in Boston. If additional 
 evidence of the need of it is desired, it maybe found 
 in the record of the results of an examination of 
 the schools in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, 
 printed in the last report of the Massachusetts 
 Board of Education. It is a matter for consid- 
 eration, however, whether it is the province of a 
 public library to supply books needed for this 
 exercise. Judge Chamberlain, the librarian of 
 the Boston Public Library, gives reasons in his 
 last annual report why they should be furnished 
 by the library. On the other hand, it may be 
 said that school committees which conduct 
 schools with intelligence supply collateral read- 
 ing to teachers, and that it is quite in the line 
 of this undertaking to furnish books needed for 
 the kind of work done by Mr. Metcalf. There 
 should be no quarrel over this matter. Teach- 
 ers should have the books needed in doing work 
 of this kind, whatever may be the method it is 
 thought wise to adopt in supplying them in any 
 >given town — whether it seem best to have them 
 provided by the public library or by the school 
 committee, or to have them bought with money 
 secured by subscription. Numerous duplicates 
 of but a few books are needed, since a work, after 
 being studied in one school, can be passed along 
 
50 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 to other schools of the same grade to be studied 
 in them, and good books, suitable for the pur- 
 pose mentioned, are published at the Clarendon 
 press and by American publishers at very low 
 prices. There is a way, too, in which some of 
 the advantages of this kind of work can be se- 
 cured by aid usually afforded by libraries — name- 
 ly, by dividing a class into groups of four or five 
 members, and giving to the scholars in each 
 group a separate book to examine. Books and 
 magazine articles could be chosen that children 
 have ready access to at home as well as in 
 libraries. Some pupils would be willing to buy 
 copies of inexpensive books. That such a plan 
 as this has been followed with success, in one 
 case, at least, is shown in an article entitled 
 "The weekly 'reading-hour' in a Providence 
 (R. I.) school," published in the New England 
 Journal of Education for February 19, 1880. 
 
 Is it practicable to do in large cities the work 
 which it has been shown has been well begun 
 in a city of 58,000 inhabitants? It seems to me 
 easy to do it there. But how could we deal with 
 the masses of men, women, and children who, 
 under the plan proposed, would use libraries for 
 purposes of reference in large cities? Would 
 not the numbers of applicants for information 
 be so great as to forbid much consultation be- 
 
PUBLIC LIBRARIES AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 5 1 
 
 tween officers of libraries and students and read- 
 ers? No. In doing this kind of work, deal with 
 inquirers in the branch libraries as well as at the 
 central building. 
 
 The large cities of England and America have 
 found themselves best able to fulfil their func- 
 tions in the community by establishing numer- 
 ous branch libraries, in a circle around the cen- 
 tral library, in different sections of the territory 
 which they cover. A considerable portion of 
 the books in the branch libraries should be se- 
 lected with especial reference to the needs of 
 teachers and scholars. Persons should be placed 
 at their head who have been chosen because, 
 among other qualifications, they have the ability 
 to render assistance in the commoner fields of 
 investigation to ordinary inquirers. Large col- 
 lections of books are not needed in doing work 
 in connection with schools. Small branch libra- 
 ries selected with regard for their wants, when 
 supplemented by the resources of the collection 
 in the main building, are adequate. In further- 
 ance of the work of rendering assistance to in- 
 quirers among scholars and teachers, there 
 should be at the central library some man of 
 large general acquaintance with books and of 
 zeal for the dissemination of knowledge, to whom 
 teachers and others in search of information 
 
52 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 may have ready access when in search of knowl- 
 edge regarding any subject they are interested 
 in. He should have as many assistants as are 
 necessary to meet the demands of the inquirers. 
 With such a head and a sufficient number of 
 assistants in the central library, and with compe- 
 tent heads of branches, it is perfectly feasible to 
 do this kind of work in connection with schools. 
 Ordinary applications for information would be 
 met at the branches, and difficult questions 
 would have to be answered at the central library 
 by the presentation of the inquirer there in per- 
 son, or by conversation through telephones con- 
 necting branches with the principal building. 
 Nor need such service be very expensive. The 
 officer having charge of this kind of work should 
 be a cultivated man of somewhat exceptional 
 qualifications, whose abilities and attainments 
 command compensation equal, say, to the prin- 
 cipal of the high school. It is easy, I know from 
 experience, to train intelligent women who have 
 had only a high-school education, but who have 
 some interest in books, and pleasant manners, to 
 do the ordinary work required in pointing out 
 sources of information. Questions of teachers 
 and scholars recur, and having once been an- 
 swered by the chief, can be answered afterward 
 by his assistants. 
 
PUBLIC LIBRARIES AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 53 
 
 It seems to me practicable to do even more of 
 this kind of work in large cities, and to be per- 
 fectly feasible to invite the public generally to 
 come to public libraries, every person with any 
 question he may wish to ask that books will an- 
 swer, for the purpose of having the best source 
 of information adapted to his needs and capacity 
 pointed out to him and placed in his hands. 
 The number of inquirers will not be so great as 
 to become unmanageable and swamp the facili- 
 ties of libraries, but it will be large, and, increas- 
 ing gradually, will have to be met by a gradually 
 increasing force of assistants. I make these 
 statements of my convictions after careful con- 
 sideration of the subject, and after ten years of 
 experience in conducting a library, with no mean 
 success, on the plan recommended. The aim, 
 bear in mind, is not to provide information to 
 specialists, but to help people generally to get 
 answers to questions which they feel interested 
 in having answered. 
 
 I see no reason why, in doing this kind of 
 work, a library in a large place could not, with 
 very little difficulty, get great assistance from 
 gentlemen outside of the corps of officers. Take 
 Boston as an example. How easy it would be 
 to interest a large number of the professors in 
 the colleges and other educational institutions 
 
54 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 in and near the city, and specialists in different 
 departments of knowledge in professional life or 
 leading a life of study in comparative leisure, to 
 allow questions to be put to them occasionally 
 in regard to what book or books should be given 
 to an inquirer, when the general knowledge of 
 the officers of the library, with bibliographies at 
 their command, fails. Treat these gentlemen as 
 men to whom you are indebted, and afford them 
 graciously every privilege that can possibly be. 
 granted to students, and let them feel that they 
 are an important factor in the management of 
 the library, and I am sure that, leaving out the 
 very selfish men who are found among scholars 
 as well as among men in other occupations than 
 stud)' - , a large corps of voluntary assistants could 
 be found ready to render the small amount of 
 gratuitous service needed of them, in considera- 
 tion of the consciousness that they were confer- 
 ring a public benefit. Of course, tact would have 
 to be used at the library, and no unnecessary 
 labor should be put on these men, and it should 
 be without expense to them. The large libraries 
 need and can have more co-operation in the 
 selection of books and in the dissemination of 
 knowledge. Are there not numbers of young 
 specialists in large cities, and men of maturer 
 years, who would delight to co-operate with the 
 
PUBLIC LIBRARIES AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 55 
 
 officers of a great library in making the institu- 
 tion an exchange for information, a great edu- 
 cational institution, a university for the people? 
 Would not scholars at a distance allow them- 
 selves to be consulted occasionally for the bene- 
 fit of inquirers, in consideration of the privilege 
 of occasionally asking themselves to have little 
 investigations made, and in return for infrequent 
 loans of books? 
 
 One word in regard to libraries in small towns, 
 and I close. In such places, persons interested 
 in the schools are likely to feel an interest in the 
 town library, and to be officially connected with 
 it. School-committee men and teachers in small 
 towns should see to it that a portion of the 
 money appropriated in town meeting for the use 
 of the library is spent for books that teachers 
 and scholars need to consult and use. 
 
LIBRARIES AS EDUCATIONAL INSTITU-. 
 TIONS. 
 
 By S. S. Green. 
 
 The first thing a library has to do, if it wishes 
 to exert a beneficial educational influence, is to 
 see to it that the selection of its books is care- 
 fully made by competent persons. 
 
 In buying additions, substantial aid may be 
 had by consulting the annotated lists of books 
 purchased, from time to time, by some of the 
 larger libraries, and the Library Purchase Lists 
 which, prepared by Mr. Cutter of the Boston 
 Athenaeum, have appeared in successive numbers 
 of the Library Journal, beginning with Vol. 6, 
 No. i. 
 
 Among valuable lists with notes now issued, 
 which it will be well for smaller libraries to make 
 use of, are the bulletins of the Hartford Library 
 Association and the Boston Public Library, and 
 the lists of additions to the Boston Athenaeum, 
 the Free Public Library of Worcester, Massachu- 
 setts, and the Young Men's Library of Buffalo. 
 
 Librarians may also make the card-catalogues 
 
LIBRARIES AS EDUCATORS. 57 
 
 of their libraries more useful to readers by sub- 
 scribing to publications such as these, cutting out 
 some of the notes and pasting them on the cards. 
 
 It may not be amiss to remind managers of 
 small libraries that the best sort of information 
 regarding books may be obtained by reading 
 the book-notices of such papers as The Literary 
 World, the New York Evening Post, or its weekly 
 issue, The Nation, and The Critic, in the United 
 States, and the Academy and the Athenaeum, in 
 London.* 
 
 In order to make libraries, in which readers 
 are admitted to the shelves, attractive, the books 
 must be well arranged, and care should be taken 
 to make the plans of arrangement known. 
 
 A decided influence in behalf of the educaLion 
 of the community may be exerted by making 
 large numbers of reference-books, such as En- 
 cyclopaedias, Biographical Dictionaries, Diction- 
 aries of Mechanics, etc., accessible to readers. 
 
 It is important also to provide quiet study- 
 rooms for really studious persons. 
 
 Knowledge of the progress that has been made 
 
 * " The American Catalogue, 1 ' "Publishers' Trade List An- 
 nual," "Publishers' Weekly" and " Literary News" for Ameri- 
 can ; and the " English Catalogue," " Publishers' Circular" and 
 " Bookseller" for English Books, give great assistance to librari- 
 ans and other teachers, and in large libraries are indispensable. 
 
58 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 during the past year in improving plans for the 
 arrangement of books, for the indication of the 
 arrangement, and for facilitating in other ways 
 the use of libraries by students and readers, may 
 best be obtained by reading the numbers of the 
 Library Journal issued during the year, and the 
 reports of the most enterprising librarians. 
 
 " How to Use the Reading-room," is a useful 
 little publication, prepared by W. E. Foster, for 
 use in the Providence Public Library. 
 
 " Suggestions to Students," printed for the 
 benefit of pupils in the Edinboro' State Normal 
 School, Pennsylvania, may be found on page 160 
 of Vol. 6 of the Library Journal. 
 
 The Thomas Crane Public Library, of Ouincy, 
 Massachusetts, has issued two Children's Book 
 Lists, one containing books under the heads 
 Fiction, Fairy Tales, and Historical Fiction ; the 
 other, books under the heads Biography, History, 
 Science and Natural History, Travel and Adven- 
 ture, Miscellaneous. The lists are intended to 
 be short, containing, both together, only a few 
 hundred volumes. The second list seems mea- 
 gre, but both must be useful, although not above 
 criticism as regards the selection of books appear- 
 ing in them. 
 
 In response to an application made by me to 
 Mr. Charles Francis Adams, Jr., for information 
 
LIBRARIES AS EDUCATORS. 59 
 
 regarding the results which have followed the 
 use of the Children's Lists, he has caused a copy 
 of a recently issued report of the School Com- 
 mittee of the town of Ouincy to be sent to me. 
 I make the following extract from this docu- 
 ment: "The liberal appropriation for books and 
 stationery, last year, has supplied us with means 
 sufficient to add much good reading-matter to 
 our stock ; and, in addition to this, a set of en- 
 cyclopaedias has been placed in each building. 
 The children are making much use of these as 
 books of reference, and are daily learning not to 
 rely upon other persons for information which 
 they can find out for themselves. Our home- 
 reading has been greatly facilitated by the pre- 
 paration of the Children's Book Lists, under the 
 direction of the Trustees of the Thomas Crane 
 Public Library. Of these lists two numbers have 
 already appeared, and others are to follow. Many 
 of these books have been on trial in our schools, 
 as in the preparation of the lists all teachers were 
 requested to furnish the names of those books 
 that have been proved to be interesting and in- 
 structive. Facts are continually presenting them- 
 selves which prove that the connection between 
 the Public Library and the Public Schools is 
 gradually growing stronger and stronger, which 
 must be especially gratifying to all interested in 
 
60 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 the education of the young. In this connection it 
 maybe said that the trustees have indicated their 
 desire to do all that lies in their power to aid the 
 schools, and have expressed their willingness to 
 place in the library, for the use of teachers, Bar- 
 nard's Journal of Education, inthirty volumes, 
 which is a complete cyclopaedia of educational 
 literature. It would seem that the school depart- 
 ment should do as much at least as the trustees to 
 increase the professional knowledge of its teachers. 
 Much study upon the history, theory, and practice 
 of education is necessary on the part of teachers, 
 in order that mistakes may be avoided and the 
 best results obtained ; yet it is manifest that a 
 teacher, on a salary of four hundred dollars or 
 less, will have little left, after defraying expenses, 
 to invest in books of any kind. Permit me to 
 suggest that a small sum of money be invested 
 under your direction, so that a few of the best 
 works on education may be placed in the Public 
 Library beside the books furnished by the Trus- 
 tees, thus forming a nucleus around which, in the 
 future, may be gathered all of those books that 
 would be useful to teachers." 
 
 Mr. J. N. Larned, of Buffalo, has issued during 
 the year a catalogue of books in the Young Men's 
 Library suited to young persons, indicating in it 
 such books as he knows to be wholesome. He 
 
LIBRARIES AS EDUCATORS. 6 1 
 
 writes me as follows, in reply to inquiries of mine : 
 " I think our little catalogue of Books for Young- 
 Readers has had, and is having, considerable in- 
 fluence on the reading of young people in this 
 library. I have had testimony to that effect from 
 a good many parents and teachers who are sys- 
 tematically using it, and who have been prompted 
 to exercise more supervision over, and guidance 
 of, the reading of their children by the help 
 which this little book gives them. The boys and 
 girls themselves seem to value it. That the books 
 recommended in the catalogue are much more 
 in use than they formerly were is a fact which 
 the assistants in the library say is very noticeable. 
 Many good books that had fallen into neglect, 
 and were always catching dust on the shelves, 
 are now in lively demand, and going and coming 
 like the newest ones. 
 
 " I am satisfied that the results will more than 
 repay the labor of preparing the list, and would, 
 indeed, more than repay a much larger under- 
 taking in the same direction." 
 
 Mr. Larned published a large enough edition of 
 his catalogue to enable him to sell copies to other 
 libraries.* 
 
 * Since this paper was written, a Catalogue of Books for the 
 Young has been prepared by Miss C. M. Hevvins, Librarian of 
 the Hartford Library Association, which, without disparage- 
 
62 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 In Indianapolis the Library Committee of the 
 Public Library selected fourteen volumes for a 
 small reference library, which the School Board 
 of that city has placed in the schools. 
 
 School libraries have been formed in Provi- 
 dence. Mr. Foster writes, in his third report, 
 " That these ' branch ' collections, as they may 
 appropriately be considered, are so administered 
 as to be used under peculiarly favorable circum- 
 stances, for they circulate under the teacher"s 
 own eye, giving him an opportunity for judi- 
 ciously following up the use of each book by 
 the most effective suggestions, instructions, and 
 supervision." 
 
 Some of the schools in Worcester have libra- 
 ries ; a few, large libraries, and it has been the 
 practice of the School Board to buy a few ref- 
 erence books for use in every school building. 
 
 It is the custom of the library in Worcester 
 to allow every teacher who wishes, to take out 
 eighteen books for school uses ; and some of the 
 
 ment of other lists of books for children hitherto issued, may be 
 said to be thoroughly good, and by far the best list for general 
 purposes yet printed. It is published by F. Leypoldt, 31 and 
 32 Park Row, New York. A department for the consideration 
 of juvenile and educational literature under the charge of Miss 
 Hewins has just been introduced into the Library Journal, be- 
 ginning with the February number 1883.— S. S. G. 
 
LIBRARIES AS EDUCATORS. 63 
 
 instructors, availing themselves of this privilege, 
 and making use of cards held by scholars also, 
 have out fifty volumes at a time. These books 
 are selected from the catalogues of the library, and 
 from manuscript lists of choice books kept in the 
 librarian's room. They can be changed as often 
 as desired. The practice of this library is to buy 
 a number of duplicates of really good books, and 
 to supply the demand for them. 
 
 Mr. Foster, of Providence, has continued to 
 publish, during the year, his monthly Reference 
 Lists. Many of us subscribe for these, and we 
 all value them highly. 
 
 He has also continued to send weekly lists of 
 books on current topics of interest to two of the 
 Providence papers, and to supply to readers in 
 his library daily a list of books on subjects of 
 present inquiry. 
 
 Mr. Foster also provides lists of books for the 
 use of students in Brown University, in connec- 
 tion with subjects which they have to investigate. 
 
 Librarians in Baltimore and Providence have 
 even gone so far, in one instance in each city, in 
 supplying the wants of the community, as to dis- 
 tribute a bibliography of the subject of a lecture 
 among the auditors. 
 
 To such persons as have not yet availed them- 
 selves of the results of Mr. Foster's labors I wish 
 
64 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 to say, that no library can well get along, if it 
 wishes to do an educational work, without hav- 
 ing in hand the monthly Reference Lists.* 
 
 Mr. Foster is deserving of the highest praise, 
 both for the amount and the excellence of his 
 work. It should be borne in mind that his efforts 
 in " practical bibliography" have the purpose of 
 meeting an immediate need, and are intended 
 only to meet the requirements of the occasion, 
 and not to be exhaustive bibliographies of sub- 
 jects adapted to the wants of profound investi- 
 gation. 
 
 Prof. Winsor continues to supply lists of books, 
 pamphlets, and articles bearing on the subjects of 
 themes and discussions which students in Har- 
 vard University have to prepare for. These are 
 not printed, however. 
 
 In a paper read before this association at Phil- 
 adelphia, in 1876, on Personal Relations between 
 Librarians and Readers, I wrote : " Place in the 
 Circulating department one of the most accom- 
 plished persons in the corps of your assistants. 
 . . . Instruct this assistant to consult with even- 
 person who asks for help in selecting books." 
 
 The Boston Public Library has recently tried 
 
 * See table of contents of the- volumes of these lists already 
 issued, in the publisher's appendix. 
 
LIBRARIES AS EDUCATORS. 65 
 
 the plan here recommended, and with the happi- 
 est results, in raising the character of the reading 
 of persons frequenting the lower hall of that in- 
 stitution, that is, the portion of the building 
 which contains the more popular books that are 
 given out for home use. 
 
 For particulars regarding this interesting work, 
 I refer you to recent reports of the librarian of 
 the Boston Public Library. 
 
 A distinguishing feature of the Free Public 
 Library of Worcester for the last eleven or 
 twelve years has been, that it has cordially in- 
 vited all inquirers, whatever their age or position, 
 to come to the reference library and propound 
 their questions, assured that as much time as is 
 necessary will be taken in every case to satisfy 
 their inquiries, if answers to them can be found 
 in books. This work grows in importance every 
 year. Instead of having a reference library that 
 is not used at all, as was the case twelve years 
 ago, there began to be a large use of books at- 
 once under the new system, and there has been 
 a great increase in its use every year since. Last 
 year we gave out to inquirers, to use in seri- 
 ous investigations within the library building, 
 42,000 volumes, in addition to such works as they 
 helped themselves to from unusually well-supplied 
 shelves of reference books, to which access is 
 
66 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 allowed without obtaining permission. I have no 
 doubt this use will be increased 5,000 volumes 
 the current year. Questions that are put to us 
 at the library are, I believe, almost invariablv 
 answered ; but much time is, of course, taken in 
 answering them, and many books have to be 
 bought or borrowed in carrying on the work. 
 
 I have no doubt that, in its extent and variety, 
 we are doing a work in Worcester that is unique. 
 
 I should like, to take a single branch of the 
 work, to speak of the close connection that has 
 been brought about between the library and the 
 industries of the city, and to show what is being 
 done to advance their interests and to spread 
 technical knowledge among workmen ; but a 
 paper would be needed to treat of this subject, 
 and its full treatment would be out of place in a 
 report such as this. 
 
 There is in our building, as I stated at the 
 Washington meeting of this Association, a hall, 
 warmed and lighted, and furnished with tables, 
 chairs, and settees, in which the officers of the 
 library can meet the teachers of the public 
 schools, to confer with them on work which the 
 schools and the library are doing together, 
 classes from the schools and societies which de- 
 sire the benefits which come from looking at 
 costly illustrated works, and in which clubs and 
 
LIBRARIES AS EDUCATORS. 67 
 
 associations can hold meetings when costly books 
 and plates are required for purposes of instruc- 
 tion and entertainment. This hall has been much 
 used the past year. 
 
 For example, the Women's Club listened here 
 to a lecture by one of its number, illustrated by 
 works in the library, on Eastern Antiquities. A 
 class from one of the grammar schools, whose 
 members had become interested in Armor and in 
 deeds of Chivalry, were brought by their teacher 
 to the library and shown Myrick's Ancient Ar- 
 mour and Le Croix's books on the Middle Ages. 
 
 A class came from the High School to look at 
 the great work of the Piranesis on Roman Ar- 
 chitecture and Antiquities. 
 
 Soon after Christmas I sent notices to the 
 teachers in several grades of the public schools, 
 that, between certain hours on a specifiedWednes- 
 day afternoon, I would have on exhibition two 
 hundred or more recently issued books that, it 
 seemed to me, would help the teachers in their 
 work. They came to the library in large num- 
 bers, and spent a great deal of time in examining 
 the books. 
 
 The Art Society has had a meeting at the 
 library, in which one of its number gave an ac- 
 count of the history and purposes of the Arundel 
 Society ; another, a description of the processes of 
 
68 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 chromo-lithography ; and still other members ex- 
 plained to the company, broken up into groups, 
 the publications of the Society, which had been 
 arranged by a committee on curtains hung about 
 the rooms, or, when bound, on easels and tables. 
 
 As soon as I return home, a class connected 
 with one of the churches in Worcester, which 
 has lately been making a stay-at-home tour 
 through England, is coming to the library for 
 an evening to look at representations of scenes 
 and objects of interest in Stratford-on-Avon, 
 and pictures of Kenilworth, Warwick Castle, etc. 
 
 The library in Worcester was a pioneer in do- 
 ing work in connection with schools. There 
 have always been the most friendly relations 
 between the Superintendent of Schools, the 
 teachers, and the officers of the library, and our 
 collection of books has been freely used by 
 teachers and scholars of the higher grades of the 
 public and private schools in which Worcester 
 abounds, since the introduction into the library, 
 eleven or twelve years ago, of the system now 
 prevailing. 
 
 An account of the manner in which we brought 
 about closer relations between the library and 
 the 7th, 8th, 9th, and some lower grades of the 
 public schools, was given in a paper which I read 
 at a meeting of the American Social Science 
 
LIBRARIES AS EDUCATORS. 69 
 
 Association, held in Saratoga a year ago last Sep- 
 tember. 
 
 All that it is necessary to say here in regard to 
 this matter is, that the work described in that 
 paper is still carried on, and that much aid con- 
 tinues to be afforded by the library in the study 
 of geography, in helping the scholars to make 
 little investigations, and in making the reading- 
 lesson interesting. 
 
 The principal development of the work among 
 these lower grades of schools has been in the in- 
 creased use of the library by teachers for taking 
 out books for the use of scholars needed in the 
 work which they are doing, in trying to substitute 
 wholesome reading for that which is a waste of 
 time. 
 
 Some interesting new connections have been 
 made with the High School the past year. 
 
 Squads of boys and girls now come to the 
 library from this school during school hours. 
 The plan is working well. The teacher in his- 
 tory, who has about one hundred and fifty schol- 
 ars studying Greek and Roman History under 
 her charge, is, by my advice, sending all of these 
 scholars to the library, in parties of ten each, to 
 look at illustrations of Greek and Roman anti- 
 quities. I show them such works as " Falke's 
 Greece and Rome: their Life and Art," translated 
 
70 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 by our associate, William Hand Browne, of the 
 Johns Hopkins University Library ; " Stuart and 
 Revett's Antiquities of Athens," "Parker's Archae- 
 ology of Rome," " Wey's Rome," "Josef Langl's 
 Denkmiiler der Kunst. Bilder zur Geschichte 
 vorzugsweise fur Mittelschulen und verwandte 
 Lehranstalten," which is being published in 
 Vienna, and give them, for additional descriptive 
 matter, such books as " Mahaffy's Old Greek 
 Life" and " Wilkins's Life of the Romans," two 
 volumes of the series of History Primers, "Ma- 
 haffy's Old Greek Education," " Guhl & Koner's 
 Life of the Greeks and Romans," " Smith's Dic- 
 tionary of Antiquities," " The Encyclopaedia Bri- 
 tannica," etc., etc. 
 
 The object of this method of study is, of course, 
 to aid the imagination of pupils, and to make 
 real to them whatever they read and study about. 
 Thus, for example, they are shown a picture of 
 the Forum as it is to-day, perhaps also a picture 
 of it as it appeared in the last century, when the 
 Piranesis represented it, before the excavations 
 of later years had been made; and a picture of 
 the Forum as it was in the times of Cicero, re- 
 constructed according to the directions of com- 
 petent scholars, as given in the work of Falke 
 and elsewhere. So, too, views are given of the 
 remains of the Parthenon and a reoresentation of 
 
LIBRARIES AS EDUCATORS. J I 
 
 this vast pile of buildings as it appeared in the 
 days of its glory. 
 
 Pictures are 6hown, too, of the dress and 
 houses and domestic utensils of the Greeks and 
 Romans. 
 
 The scholars are required to write out an ac- 
 count of different objects which they see pic- 
 torially represented. The teacher who is con- 
 ducting this exercise also has her scholars review 
 history by topics, and sends them to the library, 
 where the proper books are given them for pur- 
 suing their investigations. 
 
 Every member of her class is engaged to-day 
 in preparing an elaborate essay descriptive of 
 some class of objects, — Basilicas, the Catacombs, 
 Baths, Theatres, and Amphitheatres, the dress of 
 the Greeks and Romans, or of Greek and Roman 
 educational facilities, or concerning Greek heroes. 
 
 Work similar to that done by Mr. Metcalf and 
 other teachers in schools in Boston is done in 
 the High School in Worcester; but, while the 
 Public Library in Boston supplies the books 
 needed, the pupils themselves are required with 
 us to furnish the volumes studied. 
 
 It is intended to give the pupils as good a 
 knowledge of Bryant, Irving, Longfellow, and 
 Hawthorne, as can be obtained in a course ex- 
 tending over two years, every scholar in the 
 
72 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 High School being engaged for six months in 
 studying each one of these authors. 
 
 Much work has to be done at the library, in 
 connection with this study of American literature. 
 Allusions have to be looked up, for example. An 
 interest developed in the Alhambra of Irving 
 leads to the desire of seeing such representations 
 of the remains of Moorish architecture, and par- 
 ticularly such remains of the Alhambra as the 
 library possesses. 
 
 The principal of the High School came to me 
 a few months since and stated to me that he 
 was dissatisfied with one feature of the English 
 course of study, and wished to substitute some- 
 thing in the place of book-keeping for a portion 
 of the class. He had received permission from 
 the Superintendent of Schools to talk the matter 
 over with me and arrange some new exercise 
 agreeable to him, if the library could aid him. 
 We considered the matter carefully, and con- 
 cluded that, as the scholars were studying Greek 
 history, it would be well to give them a taste of 
 Greek literature. We formed this plan : I, having 
 the power to buy duplicates, agreed to furnish 
 six copies of each of the two little volumes in the 
 series of ancient classics for English readers about 
 Homer, namely, one on the Iliad, and one on the 
 Odyssey, and six copies each of good translations 
 
LIBRARIES AS EDUCATORS. 73 
 
 of the poems of the Iliad and Odyssey. The 
 members of the class would never have the op- 
 portunity of becoming acquainted with Homer 
 in Greek, and as young people enjoy reading his 
 poems when their attention is fixed upon them, 
 the experiment seemed worth trying. The class 
 has gone through the little books, which were in- 
 tended to give the members a preliminary gene- 
 ral knowledge of the story of the poems before 
 attacking the big books which contain Homer's 
 writings themselves, and are now at work on the 
 Iliad and Odyssey themselves. The teacher in 
 charge tells me the plan has proved successful, 
 and that the class is enjoying a very pleasant and 
 profitable exercise. 
 
THE PUBLIC LIBRARY AS AN AUXILIARY 
 TO THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 
 
 By R. C. Metcalf. 
 
 For a long time the public library has been 
 looked upon by teachers as an enemy of the 
 public schools. We have valiantly fought against 
 the surreptitious introduction of light literature 
 within the sacred walls of the school-room. We 
 have confiscated dime novels, and turned deaf 
 ears to juvenile appeals for mercy when " The 
 Last of the Mohicans," or " Robinson Crusoe," 
 was found innocently lining the geography or 
 arithmetic. We have coaxed, we have scolded, 
 we have advised, and yet the library would give 
 us odds and beat us every time. 
 
 Neither figures of rhetoric, nor problems in 
 arithmetic, could hold their own against Indians 
 and. pirates with the boys, nor could the charms 
 of geography, or the blandishments of grammar, 
 withstand the touching story of " Maidens all 
 forlorn, once more made glad," with the average 
 girl of a Yankee school-room. " What can't be 
 
PUBLIC LIBRARIES AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 75 
 
 cured must be endured," became our motto, 
 until endurance ceased to be a virtue, and we re- 
 solved to fight the educational battle with weap- 
 ons borrowed from the public library. 
 
 Knowing that boys and girls like reading 
 above almost all things else, we determined that 
 reading must be made to help, and not to hinder, 
 our school work. Books of travel would re- 
 enforce our teaching of geography. Books of 
 travel must, then, be brought into the school- 
 room, and not kept out. Historical stories 
 would illustrate history, and so historical stories 
 must be made to contribute according to their 
 means. Language could be better taught by its 
 use than by the study of its rules and exceptions, 
 and so the story that had been read was repro- 
 duced by the pupil in the class-room, and judi- 
 ciously combined with these same rules and ex- 
 ceptions. 
 
 Considerations like these led to a somewhat 
 careful study of the whole subject of general 
 reading, and now I propose, as briefly as pos- 
 sible, to state the results of that study, only 
 premising that my conclusions to-day are some- 
 what different from the conclusions of one year 
 ago, and very likely my opinions twelve months 
 hence will be quite as far removed from those 
 now held. 
 
76 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 As all children like stories, and but few can be 
 permanently interested in reading of a different 
 character, story-reading would seem to be, and, I 
 believe is, the true method of commencing our 
 work upon the taste of the child. 
 
 Stories may be true, may be founded on fact, 
 or may be properly classed as fiction. Children 
 like them all, perhaps, equally well, though I 
 have sometimes thought that they prefer those 
 that are true. Our work as teachers is to culti- 
 vate the taste of the child, so that he will prefer 
 the good story to the bad. But what constitutes 
 a good story for children ? 
 
 i. It must be pure in thought, and simple in 
 style and language. 
 
 2. It must not be unreal. 
 
 It must be pure in thought, and so I would re- 
 ject some of the novels of Charles Reade, and 
 others that too readily suggest themselves to our 
 minds. 
 
 It must not be unreal ; hence I would put one 
 side, for future reading, perhaps, such stories as 
 those written by Jules Verne ; and while I do not 
 object to the " Arabian Nights" and fairy tales 
 on high moral grounds, I think we can spend 
 our time in school on some other books to 
 much better advantage. 
 
 A successful painter catches the expression of 
 
PUBLIC LIBRARIES AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 77 
 
 his subject at his best ; and so we sometimes say 
 that the portrait flatters. But if the likeness be 
 a good one the charge is not true. So, in a good 
 story, the elements which combined make up the 
 characters delineated may, and in fact should, be 
 so selected as to make an ideal character, correct 
 in every particular, and unreal only in combina- 
 tion. Mrs. Whitney's popular story, "A Sum- 
 mer in Leslie Goldthwaite's Life," will illustrate 
 this point. 
 
 My pupils, in discussing it, charged that the 
 characters were overdrawn. Leslie, was too 
 good. Sin Saxon's badness developed too 
 rapidly into goodness, and Miss Craydockc's 
 saintly characteristics were entirely beyond the 
 reach of ordinary mortals. But after studying 
 for a few lessons the different phases of charac- 
 ter, as brought out in the incidents of the story, 
 all agreed that the presentations, when taken by 
 themselves, were not unreal, and that the objec- 
 tion which each involuntarily made to the story 
 was from the fact that too much that is good, or 
 too much that is bad, was crowded more rapidly 
 than is real into the portrayal of the leading 
 characters. 
 
 We should never lose sight of the real object 
 that the teacher should have in view while direct- 
 ing the reading of his pupils. It is to so culti- 
 
78 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 vate the taste that they will make a wise selection 
 of reading-matter when left entirely to them- 
 selves. 
 
 We may indicate, from time to time, certain 
 books that can be read with profit, but unless we 
 do more than this, most pupils will fail to follow 
 our suggestions, either from lack of time or from 
 lack of inclination. 
 
 The class should be supplied with note-books, 
 in which can be entered the names of books 
 suggested in the recitation. This list, if unused 
 for the present, or crowded one side by the pres- 
 sure of daily study, may be of great value in the 
 future, when more leisure will give the necessary 
 time for reading. 
 
 A lesson in geography will suggest numberless 
 books of travels, a lesson in history a multitude 
 of biographies arid historical sketches ; will sug- 
 gest, I say, but only to teachers who are familiar 
 with books. 
 
 It is related of a noted preacher in Boston, 
 that, for the edification of the theological students 
 in Cambridge, he told his experience as a ser- 
 monizer. It was his habit, he said, to consider 
 his subject carefully through the week, as he had 
 time, but to postpone the writing until Sunday 
 morning; then, rising early, he would drink his 
 glass of milk, commit his thoughts to paper, and 
 
PUBLIC LIBRARIES AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 79 
 
 so give his people a sermon fresh from the lab- 
 oratory of his mind. 
 
 Think of those young men trying the same 
 plan ! Think of their postponing all work until 
 Sunday morning, and then, on the strength of 
 their glass of milk, expecting to evolve a ser- 
 mon out of their inner consciousness ! Think of 
 the waste of milk I And just as absurd is it for a 
 teacher to undertake the task of directing the 
 reading of his pupils, who is not himself a 
 reader. 
 
 Several plans for attaining our object may be 
 mentioned ; and, though I have a very decided 
 choice myself, it is possible that some other than 
 mine may work admirably in other localities, or 
 under the direction of other teachers. 
 
 We must remember that very few pupils can 
 buy books for miscellaneous reading. Nearly all 
 must depend upon the public library, and but a 
 small number can be accommodated by the library 
 with the same book at the same time. These 
 facts are, to my mind, fatal to any plan for 
 directing the reading of our pupils that limits the 
 teacher's work to suggesting the names of books 
 to be read. 
 
 A book should generally be read at the time 
 the reasons existed for suggesting it, or the 
 interest will become absorbed in other matters. 
 
8o LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 If a pupil must wait his chance for obtaining the 
 volume at the public library, and fifty others are 
 equally anxious to secure the same volume from 
 the same source, and all these in addition to the 
 usual patrons of the library, one can imagine the 
 hopelessness of the teacher's task whose plan of 
 operations is limited to giving advice as to books 
 that are worth reading. New subjects will sug- 
 gest new books, and the list will soon grow to 
 proportions so formidable that the ordinary 
 pupil will become discouraged. 
 
 Another plan which has been proposed is 
 worthy of only a moment's consideration. The 
 plan is to have the teacher select some good 
 book, and read it aloud to the class, or cause it 
 to be read by some pupil, teacher and scholars 
 discussing the subject-matter as the reading pro- 
 gresses. This method might be a good one if 
 time could be found, apart from the ordinary 
 recitations, to carry on this work. But such 
 time is so limited, and the interruptions so 
 numerous, that all interest in the story would 
 inevitably die out, in consequence of the slow- 
 ness of the progress. Such a plan might work 
 very well with small children, where short stories 
 could be the rule; but I feel quite sure it would 
 not prove a success in the upper classes of our 
 grammar schools. 
 
PUBLIC LIBRARIES AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 8l 
 
 Two plans remain, both of which I heartily 
 commend, the choice to depend entirely upon 
 circumstances. 
 
 Fi?'st. Ask the librarian to supply you with 
 twenty- five or thirty carefully selected books, 
 — books that you have read yourself, and will 
 help forward, in some way, your school work. 
 Some may be books of travel, some histories, 
 some biographies, some works of fiction. These 
 books may all be charged to you by the librarian, 
 and you held responsible for their use. They 
 may be distributed and charged to the pupils by 
 the teacher, and good care required as the con- 
 dition of retaining them. 
 
 You can organize a system of exchanges, so 
 that in the course of a term all the pupils will 
 have read a number of excellent books. You 
 can adapt the reading-matter somewhat to the 
 ability of the pupil, and from time to time, in 
 familiar conversation, suggest points to which 
 you wish to call the reader's attention. 
 
 There are grave objections to this plan, for the 
 reading, though selected by the teacher, is not 
 carried on with the pupil, and much that is good 
 will be lost, because it will not be appreciated. 
 This objection, together with the fact that, while 
 considering the story, I wished to study the 
 language and incidents with the pupils, has led 
 
82 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 me to adopt the following plan with a moderate 
 degree of success. 
 
 The librarian in Boston, Judge Chamberlain, 
 very kindly offered to lend me sets of such books 
 as I might select, each set to comprise thirty 
 copies, and to be retained as long as we needed 
 them for use. These books were loaned to the 
 pupils, and carried home by them, two using 
 the same book alternately, each one evening 
 of the week. All books have been covered by 
 the pupils, and occasionally submitted to me for 
 inspection. One hour per week has been set 
 apart in school for the study of this book, a cer- 
 tain number of pages being assigned as a lesson, 
 and constituting the evening lesson for the day 
 preceding the recitation. This lesson is always 
 carefully prepared by myself, notes being made 
 of the special points that I wish discussed. This 
 is a work requiring much time, but which, if 
 omitted, renders of little value the succeeding 
 recitation. 
 
 During the " reading hour," as I may designate 
 the exercise, the pupils tell the story so far as it 
 is developed in the prescribed pages, each con- 
 tributing what she can to make the account com- 
 plete. As the books are not used in the exercise, 
 either by teacher or pupil, the efforts at story- 
 telling become language lessons of the very best 
 
PUBLIC LIBRARIES AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. S3 
 
 type, each pupil being encouraged to make state- 
 ments as full and extended as possible. 
 
 The characters introduced are next taken up 
 and discussed, pupils not only reproducing what 
 they have read in the book, but criticising the 
 characters as drawn by the author. These criti- 
 cisms are frequently keen, usually just, and always 
 interesting. The morality of the story, if I may 
 so express myself, is next brought under dis- 
 cussion, and an attempt made to inculcate and 
 emphasize what is good, and justly stigmatize 
 all that is bad. It is impossible, in a brief paper, 
 to fully specify all that may be done in such an 
 exercise. Every teacher will have his own plan 
 and develop it in his own way. 
 
 Much skill will be required to secure the co- 
 operation of all the pupils, as some find it much 
 more difficult than others to express in good 
 language the thoughts that have been gathered 
 or awakened. Education, natural ability, and 
 numberless circumstances make a world-wide 
 difference between the pupils of a class. 
 
 I will only say, just here, that so far I have 
 found the hour devoted to general reading to be 
 very enjoyable, and I think very profitable. 
 
 The advantages of this last plan over any other 
 that I have considered are many. In the first 
 place, the combined thought of teacher and 
 
84 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 scholars will be given to the same work; and if 
 the teacher be skilful, the pupils will not only 
 read a few good books, but they will learn how to 
 read them, and so gain the ability of reading 
 others by themselves. 
 
 A second advantage, and one that was quite 
 unlooked for, is the gain in the use of language. 
 Children like to talk, and only ask us to give 
 them the opportunity. 
 
 Mr. Greeley once said that the way to resume 
 specie payment was to resume ; and so I would 
 say that the way to learn to talk is to talk. 
 
 The grosser errors can be corrected at the 
 time; but, as a rule, the conversation of the 
 pupil should be but slightly interrupted by the 
 teacher. The utmost freedom should be allowed, 
 and the fullest and freest narration on the part of 
 the pupil encouraged. Written statements, as 
 well as oral, can be required, and so facility in 
 writing as well as in speaking be gained. This 
 same plan is being carried out in our second 
 and third classes, the books used being some of 
 those already studied in the first class, besides 
 one or two that have been furnished by the 
 school committee for supplementary reading. 
 Dr. Eliot's selections containing extended ex- 
 tracts from the life of Benjamin Franklin, Long- 
 fellow's " Tales of a Wayside Inn," Cooper's 
 
PUBLIC LIBRARIES AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 85 
 
 " Spy," and one or two others, have proved in- 
 valuable to us ; and, as we have a large number 
 of copies belonging to the school, each pupil can 
 be furnished with a book. While waiting for a 
 new supply from the library we turn to these 
 selections, and during the year have read nearly 
 all of them. 
 
 The first book that we read together this year 
 was "A Summer in Leslie Goldthwaite's Life." 
 The next, Towle's " Pizarro," and the third, 
 Scott's " Lady of the Lake." The first two were 
 completed in the manner just indicated, but the 
 close of the term found us at the end of the third 
 canto of the " Lady of the Lake." 
 
 If this plan for general reading can be carried 
 out, without interruption, in the upper three 
 classes of our schools, every pupil, at graduation, 
 will have read with his teacher, and under the 
 most favorable circumstances, a large number of 
 good books. It seems clear to me that such a 
 work must result in the improved taste and gen- 
 eral culture of the pupil. 
 
 It is well, also, to keep a record of the outside 
 reading of the pupils in the class. For this pur- 
 pose the names can be arranged alphabetically, 
 in some blank book, a sufficient space being al- 
 lowed each pupil for a record of his reading 
 during the year. Once a week the pupils write 
 
86 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 the names of such books, together with their 
 authors, upon slips of paper, and place them 
 upon the teacher's desk at the time of dismissal. 
 These slips are copied by the teacher at her 
 leisure; and so, at a glance, she can know the 
 usual reading of the pupil, and can suggest, from 
 time to time, such changes as may seem desirable. 
 
 Who can doubt that should a similar work be 
 carried on in all our schools, the quality of read- 
 ing-matter selected from our public libraries 
 would be greatly improved, and the value of the 
 public library, itself, to the community, be in- 
 creased a hundred-fold ? 
 
 I feel very sure that nearly all librarians will 
 enter heartily into this work, and will give all the 
 help within their power. I know that a few of 
 them seem to content themselves with being 
 faithful watch-dogs to preserve the property of 
 the town ; but my experience teaches that there 
 is a greater degree of readiness on the part of 
 librarians to serve the schools than of teachers 
 to accept such service. The latter class are so 
 sure that they already have more to do than can 
 well be accomplished, and that the introduction 
 of extra reading-matter is an extra load to carry, 
 rather than a help to bear what is now imposed, 
 that it is wellnigh impossible to find a respect- 
 able minority to undertake the work. It is very 
 
PUBLIC LIBRARIES AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 87 
 
 possible that, with improved methods, we can 
 accomplish much more than we now do. 
 
 I am convinced that supplementary reading 
 can be made a powerful auxiliary in aid of our 
 regular school work. This is especially true of 
 history. The exercise in general reading soon 
 enables the pupil to reproduce, in a few minutes, 
 with the utmost ease, what heretofore has re- 
 quired much laborious study. 
 
 The selection of proper books for the class has 
 proved my greatest difficulty. General reading 
 should be based on the school requirements, 
 should help us in teaching geography, history, 
 and grammar. Books of travel, biographies, 
 historical novels, and a multitude of others can 
 well be used in the school-room. But our own 
 reading rather leads us away from the books of 
 especial value to children. I have found it neces- 
 sary to make a business of reading for the very 
 purpose of enabling me to select what is best. 
 Such reading is not always just what I should 
 choose for myself, but it is not so burdensome as 
 I supposed. 
 
 Towle's " Pizarro," his " Vasco-de-Gama," or 
 his " Magellan" are all exceedingly entertaining, 
 and serve to refresh the memory upon subjects 
 that have long been crowded one side. 
 
 I claim no originality in the plans suggested. 
 
88 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 I do not claim any great degree of success. So 
 far, the whole matter is an experiment, but one 
 in which I have the utmost confidence. 
 
 Always keeping in view the principal object of 
 such reading, viz., the cultivation of the taste of 
 the pupil, so that the quality cf his reading may 
 be improved, I can see no reason why teachers, 
 acting in concert with the trustees of our public 
 libraries, may not accomplish a work that is 
 scarcely second to any other in the good that 
 may result from it. 
 
THE RELATION OF THE LIBRARIES TO 
 THE SCHOOL SYSTEM. 
 
 By William E. Foster. 
 
 In order to an intelligent discussion of this 
 relation, clear ideas are essential, regarding some 
 of its fundamental elements. It cannot perhaps 
 be better introduced than by attempting to es- 
 tablish for ourselves correct conceptions of the 
 child's mental faculties, of the proper functions 
 of the school in this matter, and of the functions 
 of the library. 
 
 THE NATURE OF THE CHILD'S MIND. 
 
 First, as to the nature of the child's mind. As 
 a recent English writer has stated, we " cannot 
 impart any new faculties to" the child, "or alter 
 the order in which " his " faculties are naturally 
 developed." All our "teaching must be regu- 
 lated by what children are." * To ascertain this 
 order, therefore, is important ; and whatever 
 variation of opinion there may be as to matters 
 
 * " The cultivation of the senses." Philadelphia (1878), p. 7. 
 
90 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 of detail, there is a substantial agreement upon 
 the general principle, as stated by Dr. Hill,* that 
 the perceptive faculties " give the earliest evi- 
 dence of activity;" next, the imagination; and, 
 last of all, the logical powers. If, therefore, we 
 would develop the mind of a child by the reading 
 to be furnished it, we must take him at the stage 
 where he really is, — calling out the perceptive 
 faculties of the very young pupil by that which 
 cultivates his habit of observation, suiting to the 
 still farther unfolding powers of the child the 
 works of imagination which he naturally seeks, 
 by means of simple and natural stories carefully 
 alternated with actual facts; and not commit- 
 ting the error of offering to his attention works 
 which involve logical processes, before the mind 
 is sufficiently matured to deal with them. To 
 illustrate; — you would not put into a young 
 child's hands De Ouincey's admirable essay on 
 Goldsmith, which to a mature mind would be 
 full of suggestiveness and meaning. You would 
 rather give him Mr. Donald Mitchell's account 
 of Goldsmith in his little book, "About Old 
 Story-tellers," which aims, not at tracing out 
 philosophically the principles underlying his 
 
 * "The true order of studies." Thomas Hill, d.d., N. Y., 
 1875, PP- 3-io. 
 
LIBRARIES AND THE SCHOOL SYSTEM. 91 
 
 career, but at exhibiting the vivid incidents and 
 tangible events of his life, which the perceptions 
 of the child readily lay hold of; and which help 
 the imagination of the child to reproduce for 
 him the circumstances of his career. You would 
 refer him, not to the elaborately philosophical 
 pages of Palgrave and Leckyforan acquaintance 
 with English history, but to Dickens' " Child's 
 History of England," with its simple method, and 
 picturesque narrative. 
 
 Yet, while the principles just stated are shown, 
 both by reason and experience, to be true, — as 
 abstract principles, — it is plainly unsafe to rest 
 here in our examination of this matter, for not 
 every child develops in the same way. Observa- 
 tion shows, even in a selected class, of equal age 
 and similar general surroundings, a noticeable 
 difference in the rapidity with which the use of 
 faculties is acquired, in the ease and thorough- 
 ness with which they are applied, and in the capa- 
 bilities manifested. Our recognition, therefore, 
 of the abstract principle must be supplemented by 
 a careful study of the individual pupil, and the 
 reading, no less than the teaching, intended for 
 that pupil, must be judiciously adapted to his 
 individuality ; must grow out of his peculiar 
 characteristics and capabilities. This is why cata- 
 logues and special lists, and. in fact, all instru- 
 
02 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 mentalities undertaken on a general scale for in- 
 fluencing and aiding young readers, must lose at 
 least one half their designed efficiency, unless sup- 
 plemented at every point by the living interest 
 and sympathy of some one, whether teacher, li- 
 brarian, or parent, in the individual pupil. 
 
 If, therefore, " the first thing to be borne in 
 mind," as suggested by Mr. Charles Francis 
 Adams, Jr.,* in imbuing children with a healthy 
 love of good reading, " is that they are not grown 
 people," the next, and no less essential point is 
 to see that, in the gradual unfolding of an indi- 
 vidual pupil's mental faculties, he is permitted to 
 make as rapid advances as he is really capable of. 
 The attitude of one who is directing the develop- 
 ment of a child should not be the mere willing- 
 ness to furnish what his uncultivated taste may 
 demand, but, by watching for the first manifesta- 
 tion of higher capabilities, to be ready to lead 
 him to higher and still higher attainments. And 
 to this feature of training attaches a wider signi- 
 ficance than may at first sight be perceived. It 
 has a direct tendency to incorporate into the 
 mental constitution of the child, the habit, so 
 firmly fixed as to be almost " second nature," of 
 
 * " The public library and the public schools," C. F. Adams, 
 Jr., p. 17 of this volume. 
 
LIBRARIES AND THE SCHOOL SYSTEM. 93 
 
 continuous development, of unremitting self-cul- 
 ture, of conscious selection of good reading, the 
 absence of which is so discouraging a feature in 
 the reading of a large percentage of adults. This 
 "determination of the pupil to self-activity" was 
 pronounced by Sir William Hamilton, "the pri- 
 mary principle of education." 
 
 In thus seeking to lead the young mind from 
 the valueless to the good, from good to better, 
 and ultimately, to the best, there are certain 
 natural principles of whose existence we may 
 avail ourselves with profit, in order, as has been 
 well said,*"" to have the momentum of nature on" 
 oar side. For instance, we may not delude our- 
 selves with the notion that we can accomplish 
 our purpose by simply withdrawing and forbid- 
 ding some injurious work which we find occupy- 
 ing the pupil's attention. One of the most suc- 
 cessful teachers of boys in this city has said that 
 he would not dare to do this without at the same 
 time furnishing something to fill its place, — 
 something, of course, which should have an up- 
 ward tendency. And in this he is in direct ac- 
 cordance, not only with the method of nature, 
 but with the teachings of that parable of our 
 Lord, on which Chalmers based his powerful ar- 
 
 * " The cultivation of the senses," p. 9. 
 
94 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 gument on " The expulsive power of a new affec- 
 tion." Again, we must bear in mind that the neces- 
 sity of taking readers where we find them is true, 
 not merely of the stage of cultivation attained, 
 but of the elements of literature involved ; that 
 is, elements which we find are common to the 
 reading both of the child and of the more ad- 
 vanced reader. For instance, have not the sea- 
 stories of Mayne Reid the element of fascinating 
 adventure, of exciting encounters, and vivid in- 
 cident, in common with Irving's "Columbus," or 
 Towle's "Magellan" and " Vasco da Gama?" 
 Have not the Indian tales of Cooperthe element 
 of romantic surroundings, and unflagging interest, 
 in common with Parkman's " Frontenac," or Eg- 
 gleston's " Brant and Red-jacket?" Have not 
 the stories of military and naval life which hold 
 the attention of the boy reader, elements of ad- 
 venture, and valor, and true heroism, in common 
 with Froissart's "Chronicles" and General Bart- 
 lett's Life, and Irving's Life of Washington ? 
 Have not Sir Walter Scott's " Monastery," or 
 William Black's "White Wings," the elements 
 of the charm of Scottish history and Scottish 
 scenery, in common with Miss Strickland's "Life 
 of Mary Queen of Scots," and Hamerton's " Pain- 
 ter's Camp in the Highlands," for girls as well as 
 for boys? It is wise, therefore, to avail ourselves 
 
LIBRARIES AND THE SCHOOL SYSTEM. 95 
 
 of every such connecting link, wherever our ob- 
 servation has satisfied us that it exists. 
 
 Another principle of which we may avail our- 
 selves, is the fact that present events make a 
 much more vivid impression on, and familiar ob- 
 jects have a more decided meaning and interest 
 to the child's mind, than that which is past or 
 remote. But with our modern conveniences of 
 communication, time and space have no longer 
 the power of absolutely limiting our interest, al- 
 though they may affect it relatively. For in- 
 stance, Afghanistan is a distant country, but if 
 we would effectively interest a child in reading 
 about it, there is no better time than while the 
 newspapers are devoted to accounts of the Af- 
 ghan campaigns. Again, the landing of Roger 
 Williams is an event of the past, but if we would 
 have a vivid picture of that scene impressed on 
 the child's mind, let the time when the excava- 
 tion of fragments of the rock has created a pub- 
 lic interest in the matter, be made the occasion 
 for bringing it to his attention. 
 
 The nature of the child and of the unfolding 
 of his mental powers will also indicate to us the 
 proper attitude to be taken, in order to benefit 
 him. We shall find that children, though com- 
 paratively inexperienced, often have great dis- 
 cernment ; that in the majority of instances they 
 
96 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 appreciate a service rendered and a genuine in- 
 terest felt in them ; that while very likely to re- 
 sent a scolding, petulant admonition to do better, 
 to read better books ; and pretty quick to per- 
 ceive an underhand attempt to entice them into 
 improving reading, yet when a patient, straight- 
 forward effort is made by someone who has their 
 confidence, to benefit them by his guidance, to 
 secure their interest in that which is worthy of 
 their attention, then the desired results will be 
 seen. 
 
 And lastly, it is worthy of our recollection 
 (whether we are actually engaged in guiding the 
 reading of the children, or interested in having 
 others do so), that we are not living in Utopia, 
 that children are not perfect, that occasionally 
 one will be found, proof against even the best 
 considered effort to benefit him. If we bear this 
 in mind, we shall not, of course, look to see 
 everything accomplished at once; but we shall, 
 with unflagging patience, continue those efforts 
 which must at least benefit some, and are almost 
 certain to prove of service to many. 
 
 FUNCTIONS OF THE SCHOOL. 
 
 We now come to consider the functions of one 
 of the agencies which undertakes to guide and 
 assist the gradual development of the child's 
 
LIBRARIES AND THE SCHOOL SYSTEM. 97 
 
 mind, namely the school ; and, in touching upon 
 this topic, do not suppose that it is here pro- 
 posed to introduce a technical discussion of 
 methods which are still controverted points. 
 This would be fitting only in one who had quali- 
 fied himself to do so, by an actual experience as 
 a teacher. It is rather intended merely to touch 
 upon those more obvious phases of the school 
 system, which have a bearing upon the reading 
 of the pupils. 
 
 For instance, it will readily be acknowledged 
 that the function of a school is not to do the 
 whole work for the pupils; to "finish their edu- 
 cation," so to speak. It is rather, as has well 
 been said, to make them "able to educate them- 
 selves."* It has an eye to the future. Now, if 
 a pupil is simply taught " to read," to use the al- 
 phabet, he can go on from that point, using his 
 acquisition for good or for bad. But this teach- 
 ing can never take the place of instruction "how 
 to read," which is essential, if we would not com- 
 mit an error similar to that of putting edge tools 
 into a child's hands, and never teaching him the 
 proper use of those tools. 
 
 Moreover, we are to bear in mind that the 
 
 * "The public library and the public schools." C. F. Adams, 
 Jr., p. 9 of this volume. 
 
98 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 teacher's influence is only one of many influences 
 by which the pupils are acted on, and that if this 
 influence is to be made a permanent force in their 
 lives, it must be by their making it their own, 
 and thus becoming independent, to a certain ex- 
 tent, of the teacher's actual presence. A teacher 
 of great experience has remarked that there are 
 two influences which well nigh determine the life 
 and character of a pupil after he goes out from 
 the influence of the school, — his companionships 
 and his reading. The latter, at least, it is largely 
 within the power of the teacher to control, by 
 judicious guidance while the pupil is under his 
 direction. We all know of teachers who not only 
 have shaped the development of the young men 
 and women under their charge, while they were 
 still pupils, but who still have their ear in mat- 
 ters of reading, and are eagerly looked to for 
 advice and suggestions, by their former pupils. 
 
 It is true that, in order to effect this, a teacher 
 cannot be a mere hearer of recitations, with no 
 vital interest in the development of his pupils. 
 There may, indeed, be many phases of school- 
 work which can be performed in a strictly per- 
 functory way, but not so with this. This is one 
 which depends not on the mechanical movement 
 of machinery, but on the contact of living minds. 
 The teacher is not a person who has stopped 
 
LIBRARIES AND THE SCHOOL SYSTEM. 99 
 
 growing ; he advances with his pupils, and grows 
 with their growth. To quote the language of 
 our school commissioner, Mr. Stockwell, in his 
 annual report of 1878,* respecting the appropria- 
 tions to the public libraries of the State: "The 
 teacher must realize the new field of usefulness 
 which lies before him, and must shape his in- 
 struction so that it will prepare the child to make 
 a wise choice in his reading." 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to add that, in all such 
 work, that which has in view the influencing and 
 developing of individual pupils is the surest of 
 securing substantial results in the future. To 
 quote the words of a recent address t to the 
 teachers in a Massachusetts town : " If you, dur- 
 ing your lives as teachers, can, among all your 
 mass of pupils, find out and develop through your 
 own personal contact only a few — say half a dozen 
 — remarkable men and women, who, but for you 
 and your observation and watchfulness and guid- 
 ance, would have lived and died, not knowing 
 what they could do, then, if you do nothing more 
 •than this, you have done an immense work in 
 life." And, to quote the language of another 
 recent address, by a distinguished Massachusetts 
 
 * "Thirty-ninth annual report," Providence, 1879, P- io 5- 
 t " The public library and the public schools," C. F. Adams, 
 Jr., p. 14 of this volume. 
 
IOO LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 teacher : " If ever a true inductive science of edu- 
 cation shall exist, it will be formed out of the 
 careful record of observations of early influences, 
 whether of the world, of man, of nature, or of 
 books, and a just estimate of their relative action 
 in building up the character and determining the 
 career of distinguished and successful men." 
 [Address of W. P. Atkinson, Jan. 3, 1880.] 
 
 But the school has a function beyond this of 
 benefiting and developing the individual, although 
 closely connected with it, — a conserving force in 
 the state. I cannot more fittingly characterize 
 this feature of its work than by quoting from the 
 admirable address of Mr. Thurber,* delivered be- 
 fore you, one year ago: " It. is an established in- 
 stitution, so intimately and organically related to 
 the habits of our people, and so well equipped 
 with the means of accomplishing its objects, that 
 it furnishes us to-day our best hope of touching 
 to better issues the popular morality, and of 
 awakening the too inert civic consciousness." 
 Obviously, this function of the school belongs to 
 the higher departments, where the pupils have 
 reached an age when the reason maybe appealed 
 to in their mental development. Obviously also, 
 as Superintendent Eliot suggests, in his second 
 
 *"An important defect in our schools," Samuel Thurber. 
 Worcester. 1870. 00. k-6. 
 
LIBRARIES AND THE SCHOOL SYSTEM. IOI 
 
 semi-annual report,* in this matter "the reason- 
 ing faculty should be our first object, — its train- 
 ing now, and its exercise hereafter," rather than 
 the laboring to incorporate preconceived ideas 
 of citizenship in minds which do not, by con- 
 scious reasoning, make them their own. Clearly 
 also, it is'at this point that the reading to which 
 the teacher may guide the pupil will be of most 
 efficient service, when judiciously followed up. 
 To take merely the authors mentioned by Mr. 
 Thurber, — Cicero, Burke, and Webster, — an in- 
 telligent reading of their works, in connection 
 with the contemporary history, supplemented by 
 the living interest and conscientious influence of 
 the teacher, will go far towards training up in the 
 future a generation of intelligent and patriotic 
 citizens. 
 
 Lastly, it is neither a wise nor successful course 
 to overload the school-system with too many 
 functions. To quote Superintendent Eliot once 
 more: "An educational course maybe packed 
 so fu'll of work that one piece crushes out an- 
 other." t For this, however, there is no occasion, 
 
 * " Thirty-fifth semi-annual report of the superintendent of 
 [the Boston] public schools," March, 1879. Boston, 1879, p. 35. 
 
 t " Thirty-fourth semi-annual report of the superintendent of 
 [the Boston] public schools," September, 1878. Boston, 1878, 
 P. 7- 
 
102 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 so far as the common work of the school and 
 the library is concerned. The true method of 
 cooperation is not by introducing wholly new 
 growths, but by turning existing agencies in this 
 direction. 
 
 FUNCTIONS OF THE LIBRARY. 
 
 Let us now turn to the library, and, by examin- 
 ing its functions, notice in what way it may sup- 
 plement those of the school. 
 
 An obvious function of the library is to afford 
 assistance and resources whenever possible, to 
 make its collection a workshop in which the 
 needed information shall be attained, in which 
 the skilful use of authorities shall be acquired, 
 and in which mental faculties, otherwise latent, 
 shall be called forth and developed. And, in 
 thus offering the use of its resources, the young 
 reader is not excluded. The state of things 
 humorously alluded to by Mr. Winsor (in his 
 paper read in 1879 before the American Social 
 Science Association, at Saratoga) no longer ex- 
 ists. " Time was," he said, " when the student 
 in college came up to the library once or twice a 
 week on sufferance. ' Boys ! ' cried the warder 
 of one of the first of our college libraries, within 
 the memory of the present generation, ■ Boys 
 what are you doing here? This is no place for 
 
LIBRARIES AND THE SCHOOL SYSTEM. IO3 
 
 you.'" * Not only are the college libraries man- 
 aged differently, but the children in our public 
 schools are welcomed to the public library, and 
 encouraged to supplement their studies by a well- 
 directed use of its books. And there are two 
 practices which have been adopted to some ex- 
 tent in the schools of this city, which are worthy 
 of still farther development. In some instances 
 the teacher sends a pupil with a note, or other 
 message, to the librarian, when he sees that he 
 can be benefited by a certain line of reading. 
 This gives the librarian an opportunity to reach 
 the individual pupil. In other instances the 
 teacher visits the library in company with one or 
 more of his pupils. 
 
 On the other hand, this is not the sole purpose 
 of a public library ; for it is not made up of books 
 for any one class, solely, and its selections cover 
 the widest range. In order, therefore, that the 
 pupil may use to the best advantage that portion 
 of it which is suitable for him, special efforts need 
 to be made, in his behalf, on the part of the 
 library as well as the school. The librarian should 
 be willing not merely to prepare special lists, but 
 to co-operate with the teachers wherever it ap- 
 pears that important benefit may be rendered in 
 
 * Library Journal^ v. 4, p. 4or. 
 
104 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 individual cases. Some of these features will be 
 considered, later on. 
 
 A function of the library which is coming to be 
 more fully acknowledged is that of not merely 
 furnishing the material for the reading of the 
 public, but also, so far as possible, indicating the 
 method of reading and study. This is illustrated 
 by the preparation of such printed catalogues as 
 those of the Boston and Ouincy Public Libraries, 
 with their full and minute historical references 
 for the furtherance of a plan of intelligent and 
 systematic reading. The Fiction catalogue also 
 of the Boston Public Library, is an illustration 
 of the manner in which a reader may be led from 
 a lower to a higher stage of reading. The special 
 reference lists in connection with such subjects 
 as Rome and Athens, as treated in illustrated 
 lectures, and on such current topics as the New 
 York obelisk, have been prepared by the public 
 library of this city, with very satisfactory results.* 
 The same library also makes a daily practice of 
 posting up references, for the use of the public, 
 to the works in its library which bear upon any 
 matter which is at that time of public interest. 
 All these features, and particularly the last, are 
 
 * Since Jan., i88r, the more timely of these lists have been 
 issued in the form of a monthly periodical, entitled the Monthly 
 Reference Lists (now published by F. Leypoldt). 
 
LIBRARIES AND THE SCHOOL SYSTEM. 105 
 
 such as may be made directly available in the 
 work of the school. A pupil who has formed 
 the regular practice of consulting these daily 
 notes is likely to grow up, not only with a more 
 intelligent interest in the world around him, but 
 with that suggestive habit of mind which enables 
 him to see meaning and appropriateness in a 
 thousand things which a less carefully trained 
 mind would overlook ; and with the habit of 
 looking at things in their relations, which will 
 save him from so many annoying errors. 
 
 Is then a library an educational institution ? 
 These are certainly educational functions; and 
 although the library possesses other functions, 
 such as, for instance, that of rational entertain- 
 ment, yet the educational principle may profitably 
 be kept in mind all the way through. " The 
 modern library," says Mr. Winsor, " is the meet- 
 ing of what has been, and is to be, — the accom- 
 plishment and the potentiality."* It necessarily 
 follows, therefore, that, like the school, much of 
 its best work is done, not for a present impression, 
 but for a future result ; that, by the current of 
 reading and thinking which its well-directed ef- 
 forts may succeed in introducing into the life of 
 to-day, it is silently contributing to shape the 
 
 * Library Journal, v. 4, p. 400. 
 
To6 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 civilization of the future; that, by seeking to cir- 
 culate good literature, and to make the thoughts 
 of great men of all time a vital force in the lives 
 of the youth of this day, (who shall be the adult 
 public of the future), it is really, like the public 
 school, a conserving power ; and like it has a 
 claim to the use, the gratitude, and the interest 
 of the public. 
 
 SPECIFIC MEASURES. 
 
 With this view of the functions of the school 
 and the library and the nature of the child's 
 mind, we may more intelligently enter upon the 
 consideration of specific measures designed to 
 advance their common work.* And here let the 
 principle already alluded to be carefully borne in 
 mind : — that the aim is not to introduce wholly 
 new growths, but to utilize those already exist- 
 ing. 
 
 This being the case, then, it is natural to 
 begin with the text-books, for which the course 
 of study provides. To use the language of one 
 of the Boston grammar masters who has given 
 this subject careful study : " Let the teacher 
 constantly turn the mind of the child to books 
 
 * See also the article, " The school and the library ; their 
 mutual relation." Library Journal, v. 4, pp. 319-25. 
 
LIBRARIES AND THE SCHOOL SYSTEM. 107 
 
 that will illustrate, explain, or more fully develop 
 the work of the school-room.' * 
 
 We shall find also that these specific measures 
 will depend for their efficiency on their adapta- 
 tion to the age, and capabilities, and natural 
 tastes of the pupil. The lists of books in the 
 public library of this city, suitable for young 
 people, prepared for the use of the public schools, 
 provide for this point by marks distinguishing 
 the books as follows : (1) books for very young 
 readers, (2) books for somewhat advanced readers, 
 (3) books for boys particularly, (4) books for 
 girls particularly, (5) books to be consulted only 
 at the library. All that are undesignated are 
 understood not to be subject to any of these 
 limitations. 
 
 So, also, the methods adopted must vary with 
 these varying conditions. For instance, the 
 children in the primary and intermediate schools 
 must be approached almost entirely through the 
 cultivation of the senses and the imagination. 
 To cultivate the senses, some primary school 
 teachers have adopted the plan of taking a book 
 from the library which contains descriptions and 
 illustrations of animals, or of other topics in 
 natural history. These simple, vivid accounts 
 
 * Mr. R. C. Metcalf, Library Journal, v. 4, p. 345. 
 
108 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 are read aloud to the class ; and the teacher im- 
 proves the opportunity afforded by the interested 
 questions asked, after reading, to call out, de- 
 velop, train, and assist the habit of close obser- 
 vation. One of Bewick's engravings, containing 
 many more figures than could at first sight be 
 perceived, has been used successfully, to test the 
 varying abilities of the children in this respect, 
 some pupils discovering many more than others. 
 Some of the teachers of this city also, after per- 
 sonally examining books which they find to be 
 suitable for young pupils, write on the black- 
 board in the school-room the titles and num- 
 bers of the books, the children copying them for 
 themselves. 
 
 In the grammar schools the effort to cultivate 
 the senses may take a wider application. There 
 are few better ways of acquiring habits of close 
 observation than by the well-directed use of ref- 
 erence-books. A beginning may be made with 
 those which are contained in the school-room, 
 but the teacher should also improve the oppor- 
 tunity to send the pupil to the library for others. 
 For instance, the question is asked : "Who are 
 the reigning sovereigns of Europe?" or " What is 
 the date of the birth of Mary Stuart?" or " How 
 many steamship routes are there from New York 
 to Liverpool ?" It is probable that no book 
 
LIBRARIES AND THE SCHOOL SYSTEM. IOQ 
 
 would be found at the school which would an- 
 swer these questions. In sending a pupil to a 
 reference-book for information, care should also 
 be taken that the child not merely ascertains 
 that particular piece of information, but that he 
 acquires the method. In using the text-book 
 also, the matter should be studied topically, so 
 far as possible. To one pupil the teacher will 
 say "You may find out all you can about this 
 point." And similarly with the other pupils. 
 The child's interest should be aimed at and se- 
 cured in connection with each point. Lists de- 
 signed to further this method of study are pre- 
 pared on the course in United States history, by 
 the public library of this city. Much may be 
 done by bringing interconnected departments 
 into relation with each other at the proper time. 
 Thus, if history be the department to which the 
 text-book belongs, see that the pupils are inter- 
 ested to read the biography of the principal 
 actors in the period studied about. And here 
 we must bear in mind that it is not the biogra- 
 phy which the adult reader would select, with its 
 exhaustive study of social tendencies, its philo- 
 sophical treatment, and discussion of abstract 
 principles, but the narrative biography, written 
 f >r a child's comprehension, with its simple lan- 
 guage, vivid pictorial style, and abundance of 
 
I TO LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 easily remembered incidents. At the same time, 
 the wise teacher will make sure that these inci- 
 dents do not exist in the mind of the child as so 
 many unconnected, unmeaning stories, but will 
 endeavor to show their significance in the de- 
 velopment of the individual's character or in the 
 unfolding of the historical narrative. It is here 
 that the reason has one of its earliest opportu- 
 nities of exercise, in the apprehension of cause 
 and effect, and the careful establishment of that 
 relation. In the grammar schools also the exer- 
 cise of English composition exists, which, when 
 rightly improved, can be made the source of so 
 much genuine pleasure and advantage to the 
 child, instead of being (as it is sometimes) a 
 fearful bugbear. The first trials of the child at 
 this art of expressing himself, must of course, be 
 simple, unambitious attempts. In order to be 
 successful, the essay must be about something 
 on which he has some actual knowledge, and in 
 which he has some living interest. Some of the 
 teachers of this city have successfully used the 
 method of assigning to their pupils an essay on 
 some book read with interest, or on some topic 
 in the lesson which had been studied with profit. 
 There is an unmistakable satisfaction, as we all 
 know, in the acquisition of a new faculty, and 
 this delight is not unknown to the child, who for 
 
LIBRARIES AND THE SCHOOL SYSTEM. Ill 
 
 the first time finds himself able to express him- 
 self intelligibly and appropriately. Here again, 
 the reason is brought into exercise by the child 
 in shaping his thoughts for appropriate expres- 
 sion. 
 
 But if the written composition can yield such 
 valuable results, even more can be said for the 
 oral exercise or " reading hour." By oral exer- 
 cise is not here meant the universal adoption of 
 the oral method (which may, at least, still be 
 considered a controverted point), but a regular 
 weekly (or fortnightly) exercise in which the 
 oral method is used. In some of our schools 
 this weekly exercise has been found one of the 
 most valuable features of school work. On these 
 occasions, to quote once more from Mr. Thur- 
 ber's address of one year ago, the subject " is not 
 formal arithmetic, grammar, spelling, or geogra- 
 phy, but the teacher, himself, with his fund of 
 knowledge, his convictions, his enthusiasm. . . . 
 They are the dullest of exercises when perfunc- 
 tory ; they are the brightest and most animating, 
 when original. All the pupil's faculties respond 
 with ardor to the least tact, the least skill, the 
 least warmth of sentiment on the part of the 
 teacher."* Now, this exercise is one which is 
 
 * " An important defect in our schools," p. n. 
 
112 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 directly available in developing the reading of 
 the pupils. It may serve as an opportunity of 
 inquiring what books have been read by the 
 pupils; of suggesting others; of inquiring and 
 ascertaining in what direction the pupils have 
 been supplementing the course followed by the 
 text-book, by independent reading ; of suggesting 
 and enforcing correct habits of reading; of illus- 
 trating the topics of the lesson by familiar events 
 of current interest; in short, of developing the 
 faculties of the pupil, under peculiarly favorable 
 circumstances. 
 
 Some time ago, at an annual meeting of the 
 Massachusetts Teachers' Association, Mr. Met- 
 calf, of the Weils School, in Boston, described an 
 interesting feature of his weekly " reading hour," 
 or oral exercise. There is a sufficient number 
 of copies of the same book to supply the class. 
 This book, (Mrs. Whitney's " Leslie Goldthwaite," 
 for instance), is carefully read, and then in the 
 weekly exercise, questions are asked, bringing 
 out its different features. For instance, one 
 pupil takes up a given character, states what part 
 this character performed, and what his distin- 
 guishing traits were. Another discusses the 
 general movement of the plot, and the style. 
 These things, he says, teach them close observa- 
 tion, and develop their critical faculty, and power 
 
LIBRARIES AND THE SCHOOL SYSTEM. 113 
 
 of discrimination. Others, however, take up a 
 given portion of the story, and reproduce it in 
 their own words. This, he says, serves as a lan- 
 guage lesson. It is something not readily to be 
 memorized, and the pupils are driven to fall back 
 on their own resources. The same thing was to 
 be noticed 4n an exercise* in a Providence school 
 recently, where one pupil told in her own words 
 nearly the whole of the story of the " Vicar of 
 Wakefield." In language which was plainly her 
 own, bearing every indication of genuineness, 
 sometimes, for a single moment, at a loss for the 
 rifrht word, but never losing the thread of the 
 story, with a manner so interested that it carried 
 with her the interested attention of her class- 
 mates who had not read it, this young story-teller 
 went on from the beginning to the close. There 
 was the most evident appreciation of Goldsmith's 
 delightful humor, and some questions at the end 
 showed that she had found her interest awak- 
 ened in the incidents of Goldsmith's life and 
 career. 
 
 Now, an exercise like this is very instructive. 
 It shows the advantage of the oral exercise as a 
 language lesson. In all this story, as told by 
 
 * This exercise is described more fully in the New England 
 Joiirnal of Education, Feb. 19, 1880, p. 117. 
 
114 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 the child, there were no technical, rarely-written 
 words, which could have no meaning to a child, 
 and yet there was here and there a word (and 
 for this she was sometimes, as was remarked, 
 obliged to hesitate), which she had not in her 
 use of language, thus far, had occasion to use 
 frequently. The effort was a means of making 
 it more thoroughly hers thereafter. As Superin- 
 tendent Eliot says : " Lead a child to find a thing 
 himself, and it seems all his finding; because it 
 seems so, he is interested in it, and his interest 
 secures his mastery of it."* Observe, also, how 
 the imagination is cultivated, which a distin- 
 guished teacher has called " the greatest of all 
 educational forces."t And the same writer goes 
 on to show how, in view of the fact that this 
 faculty will have its exercise on something, — if 
 not on good literature, then on the more worth- 
 less fiction,— "the only remedy is such a training 
 of the popular taste as would make such rubbish 
 intolerable."! 
 
 Besides thus cultivating the senses and the 
 imagination, this exercise may, among the pupils 
 of the high school and the older pupils of the 
 
 * "Thirty-fifth semiannual report," p. 31. 
 t " On the right use of books," W". P. Atkinson, Boston, 1878, 
 p. 22. 
 
 % " On the right use of books," p. 22. 
 
LIBRARIES AND THE SCHOOL SYSTEM. 115 
 
 grammar school, aim also at developing the 
 reasoning faculty, and one appropriate direction 
 for the exercise, may be the development of right 
 conceptions of government and of citizenship, as 
 has been already pointed out. A teacher in this 
 city has recently conducted her pupils in succes- 
 sion over a study, (1) of the charter and ordi- 
 nances of the city in which they live, (2) of the 
 charter and constitution of the state in which 
 they live, and (3) of the United States constitu- 
 tion, the circumstances under which that was 
 formed, and the duties of citizens under it. 
 There is space only to mention some of the other 
 methods which have been found successful. One 
 of the teachers of this city has long been in the 
 habit of having her pupils supplied with blank- 
 books, and at certain intervals she mentions the 
 titles of books which she wishes them to enter in 
 this memorandum, and to read. These are pretty 
 sure to be read, for not unfrequently the subjects 
 of their written essays have direct reference to 
 the contents of these books. She also uses this 
 method to illustrate fiction by history, and his- 
 tory by fiction, as well as biography. Thus, if 
 the class is studying about Cromwell, " Wood- 
 stock" is likely to be recommended for reading. 
 Can we not see what a power this list of books, 
 furnished by an intelligent, interested teacher, 
 
Il6 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 continued for a series of years, will have, in deter- 
 mining the direction of the pupils' reading, think- 
 ing, and living? Another plan which has been 
 attended with excellent results in this city and 
 elsewhere, is for the teacher personally to exa- 
 mine the books for young people in the public 
 library, and, selecting the titles of a number of 
 those which he considers best adapted to his own 
 pupils' reading, procure copies of them for what 
 may be called a "school library." The books 
 circulate under the teacher's own eye. They 
 are passed from one pupil to another, until all 
 have had them. The time for which they are 
 kept is known by the teacher, and the tendency 
 to rush hastily through three or four books in 
 a week (always to be guarded against), cannot 
 make very much headway. What is really the 
 most valuable feature of the plan, however, is the 
 opportunity which it gives the teacher, of reaching 
 the individual pupil, of watching his growth, and 
 guiding his development; of dropping a helpful 
 suggestion, when giving him the book, and of 
 hearing his comment on it, when he has read it ; 
 of observing in what way books and authors act 
 on the young mind, thus being better able to 
 benefit the pupil in subsequent efforts. 
 
 * For a fuller account of this plan see the next chapter. 
 
LIBRARIES AND THE SCHOOL SYSTEM. 117 
 
 The last method to which I shall invite your 
 attention is that of impressing the points which 
 need to be observed by the pupil, in his use of 
 the library, more effectually upon his mind, by a 
 printed list of rules or suggestions. Such a list 
 of suggestions was prepared a few months ago 
 for the pupils of this city, in their use of the 
 Providence Public Library. As this list is in 
 use in most of the city schools, and as copies 
 have been furnished to the State Commissioner 
 of Schools for distribution in other parts of the 
 state, it is probably familiar to many of you, and 
 I will not now do more than to touch upon the 
 proper method of using it. Do not suppose that 
 it is designed to take the place of the teacher, 
 in guidingand assisting the reading of the pupils. 
 No set of rules, however well considered, can 
 take the place of the living presence of an in- 
 terested teacher. Put these into the hands, then, 
 of the pupils, let them ponder them, and make 
 the principles their own, but let there be behind 
 them your personal influence, more real and 
 more potent than the printed words. When 
 originally distributing them, go carefully over 
 the ground, explaining each point. Afterwards, 
 let the ordinary teaching of the lesson be made 
 the occasion of bringing up the principles for 
 practical illustration and enforcement. Let us 
 
Il8 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 remember that, to a child, a bare abstract prin- 
 ciple, however clearly stated, can never be so 
 full of real meaning as the concrete illustration. 
 
 The relation of the libraries, then, to the work 
 of observing, training, and developing the grad- 
 ually unfolding faculties of young minds, and of 
 helping them to attain the truest manhood and 
 womanhood, is one of supplementing the work 
 of the school, at almost every step. Let me 
 promise you, on the part of the librarians, — I can 
 speak for one, certainly, and, I doubt not, for all, 
 — the heartiest cooperation, in everything which 
 lies in their power. 
 
A PLAN OF SYSTEMATIC TRAINING IN 
 READING AT SCHOOL. 
 
 By William E. Foster. 
 
 The plan detailed below has impressed the 
 writer as having some striking advantages, and 
 he has thought that its details would be of in- 
 terest to other librarians than himself. The 
 school in which it has been in force for a few 
 years past is the Point St. School in Providence ; 
 and as described here its operation is confined 
 chiefly to the first room, or principal's room, the 
 pupils of which have an average age of about fif- 
 teen years. A plan of supervision somewhat 
 approaching to this, and intended as a prepara- 
 tion for it, is, however, found in other rooms in 
 the school. 
 
 The main points of the plan are as follows : 
 (i.) Careful and uninterrupted study of the re- 
 sources of the Public Library, and making them 
 available wherever possible. (2.) A " school 
 library," selected chiefly from books in the Public 
 Library, circulating under the personal direction 
 of the principal. (3.) The systematic supervi- 
 
120 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 sion, instruction, and training which accompany 
 the reading of these books. 
 
 The books themselves have been gradually- 
 accumulating during the last three or four years, 
 and have now become a library of several hun- 
 dred volumes.* But the significant feature of 
 the collection is the fact that the books have 
 been selected by the principal, Mr. Sawin, with 
 as minute care as a surgeon would use in select- 
 ing his instruments. Not one has been admitted 
 until he has thoroughly satisfied himself of its 
 contents. The importance of this knowledge 
 will be appreciated when it is considered that in 
 a certain sense he himself makes the selection of 
 reading for each pupil. Out of the list of num- 
 bers presented by the pupil, he furnishes that 
 book which in his judgment will best further the 
 process of intellectual training and development 
 which he has in view for that individual pupil ; 
 and he may go outside of the pupil's list alto- 
 gether. The study of the adaptation of individual 
 books to individual readers is plainly an essential 
 feature of the plan. 
 
 This, however, is but one half of the story. 
 The pupil, we will suppose, has drawn Coffin's 
 
 * A carefully prepared catalogue of the library, with annota- 
 tions and suggestions, has just been published. 
 
SYSTEMATIC TRAINING IN READING. 12 1 
 
 "Old times in the colonies," or Miss Buckley's 
 " Life and her children." But the use which he 
 shall make of the book is by no means optional 
 with him. He may not return it the next day; 
 he must keep it at least one week, and in certain 
 cases an extra week. He may not return it un- 
 read or superficially read ; he knows that he must 
 give a satisfactory account of his reading. There 
 are several ways in which the principal satisfies 
 himself of the fruits of each pupil's reading, (i.) 
 The written exercise-books. Each pupil is supplied 
 with a blank-book, and before returning a book 
 which he has read he must enter in this as care- 
 ful an abstract of it as possible, and he has the 
 book itself before him while writing it. It is a well- 
 attested fact that to write down on paper the 
 main ideas of the last book read, has a tendency 
 to write them at the same time into the reader's 
 own mind. (2.) Oral abstracts, from memory. 
 On Friday afternoons, besides reading from their 
 written exercise-books, the pupils are called upon 
 to state in their own words the substance of some 
 book — not necessarily the last one — which the 
 principal has at some time put in their hands 
 for reading. The advantages of this method, in 
 drawing upon the pupil's own resources, in com- 
 pelling him to call new faculties into exercise, 
 in giving him facility in the use of his material, 
 
122 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 are too obvious to need extended statement. (3.) 
 Written abstracts from memory. Their object is 
 to allow the pupil time to go more into details, 
 to make his statements more deliberately, and 
 to do fuller justice to himself, than when on his 
 feet, giving an oral account. Moreover, they are 
 not furnished on some specified day in the week, 
 by all the pupils at the same time. Each indi- 
 vidual pupil, under such circumstances and at 
 such times as the judgment of the principal may 
 dictate, prepares and presents his own abstract. 
 This work is of striking excellence. The writer 
 has had the pleasure of examining a large number 
 of these abstracts. With few exceptions they 
 show such a familiarity with the contents of the 
 books as could have been gained only by intelli- 
 gent and thorough mastery of their essential 
 points. 
 
 The question may be suggested whether an 
 undue amount of time and attention is not in 
 this way devoted to that small number of books 
 which at the most will be all that can be read 
 under these conditions. If reading these few 
 books were the whole end and aim of the plan, it 
 would be open to question. But no one can fail 
 to see that an essential feature of the plan is the 
 acquiring of the method. Not simply the infor- 
 mation that New York was settled by the Dutch, 
 
SYSTEMATIC TRAINING IN READING. 1 23 
 
 or that sponges grow on rocks, or the attendant 
 circumstances in either instance, are the end in 
 view ; but ability to deal with other books, and 
 preparation for making the most effective use of 
 a library. And every additional book thus read 
 and mastered confirms the habit and fixes the 
 tendency. 
 
 It may be queried, however, what sort of 
 " abstracts" these pupils of fifteen are capable of 
 making. It is true that they are not abstracts in 
 the same sense in which the " Table of contents" 
 of Mr. Bancroft's new work on the " Formation 
 of the constitution," for instance, is an abstract 
 of that work. They are not of course exhaustive 
 enough for that. The pupil gives a brief state- 
 ment of the purpose of the book, and then in 
 most instances a general survey of the book as a 
 whole. After that it is found that in some cases 
 the tendency is to select some incident of the 
 book. This, the pupil will say, " is one of the 
 most interesting of the matters described here." 
 This is certainly natural. Yet it is clear that the 
 most of them have caught the essential idea of 
 an abstract ; and some of the papers show a very 
 noteworthy degree of skill in analysis. Special 
 pains are taken to develop this facility; and a 
 marked difference can be observed in this par- 
 ticular between the papers presented near the 
 
124 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 beginning of the year and those near the close. 
 Books, moreover, have sometimes been given 
 back, to be re-read ; and papers, to be re-written. 
 It is interesting to notice, also, that, whether the 
 account be an oral or a written one, it seldom 
 fails to begin with a statement of what " the ob- 
 ject of this book is." Inquiry, however, shows 
 that the pupils have been carefully trained in the 
 use and purposes of the title-page, the table of 
 contents, the preface, and the index. They are 
 held responsible if they cannot furnish the infor- 
 mation which these aids would help them to 
 find. 
 
 It might perhaps be expected that the tendency 
 of so systematically controlling the reading of 
 these pupils would be to extinguish all real inter- 
 est. However plausible such a theory may ap- 
 pear, it can have little weight against the actually 
 observed tendency. The writer has more than 
 once been present at a weekly exercise such as 
 has been alluded to, and has himself talked with 
 more than one member of the school.* Nothing 
 could be more hearty or unmistakable than their 
 interest in the topics, and the spirit with which 
 they enter into the plan ; and it is perhaps most 
 
 * See Library Journal, v. 5, p. 102-4 ; New England Journal 
 0/ Education, Feb. 19, 1880. 
 
SYSTEMATIC TRAINING IN READING. 125 
 
 noticeable in the oral exercise referred to. The 
 remark of a pupil that " it is impossible not to 
 become interested in the book, it is so plainly 
 written," might possibly be set down as an un- 
 meaning platitude if occurring in a written exer- 
 cise, but when uttered by a pupil whose eyes, 
 and whole attitude, bear eloquent testimony to 
 the genuineness of the feeling, it is not easy to 
 question the success of the method. And, in 
 truth, if you once concede the teacher's authority 
 to exercise control over other lines of study, and 
 if, still farther, you concede his soundness of 
 judgment and ability to command the confidence 
 of his pupils, the existence of this feeling on the 
 part of the pupils no longer seems any more un- 
 reasonable in theory than in practice. 
 
 Very much does depend on who the teacher 
 is ; on his intelligent familiarity with the books, 
 tact in dealing with children, and judicious adap- 
 tation of all the details. Granting these, however, 
 it is plain that the system possesses great advan- 
 tages. It is based on a correct theory. It is 
 exceedingly effective in practice. It commends 
 itself to the intelligence of the child. It is ac- 
 companied by his lively interest. It brings to 
 his attention, at the time, some of the most 
 suitable books for his reading. It furnishes the 
 best preparation for his future use of books. It 
 
126 
 
 LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 is an invaluable introduction to his use of a public 
 library. Public libraries need have no appre- 
 hensions at the foundation of "school libraries" 
 like these. More than any other agency, per- 
 haps, they are serving to create a reading public 
 for the future who will use the resources of a 
 library to the best advantage. 
 
 01 
 
 [VEKSIT7] 
 
Monthly Reference Lists, 
 
 A GUIDE FOR THE READER AND STUDENT 
 TO TRUSTWORTHY SOURCES OF INFOR- 
 MATION ON CURRENT TOPICS. 
 
 PREPARED BY 
 
 WILLIAM E. FOSTER, 
 Librarian Providence Public Library. 
 
 Terms, Si per year, 10 cents per number. Sample copies fur 
 nished on application. Address 
 
 F. LEYPOLDT, Publisher, 
 
 31 and 32 Park Row, New York. 
 
 " The two volumes 1881-82, of the Providence Library's 
 Monthly Reference Lists, . . . are a welcome addition to the 
 endless variety of indexes. They can be used in connection 
 with any good public or private library." — The Nation, Jan- 
 uary 18, 1883. 
 
 "Most thoroughly and carefully selected, embracing a wide 
 range, from the best German authorities to the latest articles in 
 current literature." — New England Journal 0/ Education, 
 April 21, 1881. 
 
 "Invaluable to editors and other persons desiring to consult 
 works of reference." — Indianapolis Daily Journal. 
 
 " Any teacher with advanced pupils, desirous of training stu- 
 dents in habits of investigation, could scarcely do better than 
 supply these lists as texts for composition." — Springfield Daily 
 Republican, April 22, 1881. 
 
 "... The most noticeable and perhaps the most valuable 
 feature of Mr. Foster's reference lists is the topical subdivision 
 of the main subject. For a student or teacher, the ' structural 
 bibliography ' is much morejvaluableand suggestive than a long 
 listof authorities, which, in some cases, would be hardly better 
 than a catalogue. For example, the subject of American 
 
Monthly Reference Lists. 
 
 ' Local Self-Government ' is much better treated under the sub- 
 division of 'Origin,' 'Tendencies,' 1 New England Towns,' 
 ' Middle Colonies,' 'Southern Colonies,' than under the main 
 head alone, for the structural method presents the subject from 
 different points of view, and yet as an organic whole. This 
 structural method stands in the same relation to the generic 
 subject of study as that subject does to study in general. A 
 catalogue of mere names or a long bibliography of authorities 
 is often very discouraging to readers, but when attention is 
 called to a particular subject, to a special point of view, and 
 to an individual author, then a point has been made for the 
 encouragement of readers and of original research. The most 
 important function which any catalogue, bibliography, ref- 
 erence list, or consulting librarian can discharge, is to arrest 
 attention, to make mental points. Mr. Foster distinctly says 
 in his preface that his reference lists 'are intended as work- 
 ing-lists and not as bibliographies.' He does not aim at 
 being exhaustive, or exhausting, but as being suggestive. Mr. 
 Foster has well said in the Library Journal (7 : 86), the bibliog- 
 raphy ' aims at completeness for the sake of completeness ; 
 but the working-list is as complete as it serves its purpose to 
 be.' The purpose of Mr. Foster is manifestly that of a prac- 
 tical librarian, desiring to aid a reading public, and not that of a 
 scientific specialist, a mere antiquarian bibliomaniac, desiring 
 to collect or amass all existing authorities for the sake of hav- 
 ing them at his command. 
 
 " Scientific point in the description of books, monographs, 
 magazine articles is of more consequence to most readers than 
 bibliographical enumeration or catalogue completeness. A 
 reader does not want all books ; he wants the best, and more 
 especially one or two at a time, with special reference to partic- 
 ular things that may be found within them. ... A good 
 librarian like Mr. Foster and many others in this country will 
 show the reader a subject-catalogue, a ready-reference-list, a 
 definite way of finding out special things through some partic- 
 ular book. ... A good method of ready reference is like a 
 bright, sharp needle in a skilful hand, deftly working some 
 fine or useful end ; a poor method is like hunting for a needle 
 in a haystack." — Herbert B. Adams, Johns Hopkins Univer- 
 sity, Baltimore, in the N. E. Hist, and Geneal. Register, Jan., 
 
 Contents of Vol. III. (1883) :— January. 62. The Civil 
 Service. 63. Gambetta and the third republic. 64. John Green- 
 leaf Whittier. 65. An elective judiciary. February. 66. Indian 
 tribes in the United States. 67. Mr. Gladstone's career. 
 J\Iarch. 6S. Richard Wagner. 69. Georgia sesqui-centennial. 
 
Monthly Reference Lists. 
 
 TABLE OF CONTENTS, 1881. 
 
 January. 
 
 page 
 
 1. The stability of the 
 
 French republic 1 
 
 2. The Plantagenets in 
 
 England 1, 3 
 
 3. The demand for the 
 
 cession of Dulcigno.. 3 
 
 February. 
 
 4. George Eliot 5 
 
 5. George Washington... 5, 7 
 
 6. Webster and the con- 
 
 stitution 7 
 
 March. 
 
 7. Thomas Carlyle 9 
 
 8. Alexander I. and nihil- 
 
 ism 9, 11 
 
 9. Hamilton's influence. .. 11 
 
 10. The sanity of Ham- 
 
 let 11 
 
 Al'RIL. 
 
 11. Lord Beaconsfield 13 
 
 12. Free ships 15 
 
 13. Sheridan's " Rivals"... 15 
 
 May. 
 
 14. The dramas of Soph- 
 
 ocles 17, 19 
 
 15. Revision of the English 
 
 Bible 19 
 
 June. 
 
 16. Abraham Lincoln. .. .21, 23 
 
 17. The relation of Eras- 
 
 mus to his time 23 
 
 j8. Madame de Stae'l 23 
 
 July. 
 
 page 
 
 19. Comets 55 
 
 20. Deep-sea phenomena. 25, 27 
 
 21. The French in Tunis.. 27 
 
 August. 
 
 22. Dean Stanley 29 
 
 23. The centenary of Kant, 
 
 29.31 
 September. 
 
 24. The unification of Italy, 
 
 _ 33, 35 
 
 25. English discussion of 
 
 protection 35 
 
 26. Cardinal Richelieu's 
 
 career 35 
 
 27. The Spanish armada. 35 
 
 October. 
 
 28. Yorktown 37, 39 
 
 29. Discoveries at Olympia 39 
 
 30. England in the eight- 
 
 eenth century 39 
 
 November. 
 
 31. The French allies, 
 
 [1778-81] 41, 43 
 
 32. The English people 
 
 before the Norman 
 conquest 43 
 
 33. Memoranda on Othel- 
 
 lo, by actors 43 
 
 December. 
 
 34. The proposed inter- 
 
 oceanic canal 45, 47 
 
 35. Analysis of motive in 
 
 Macbeth 47 
 
Monthly Reference Lists. 
 
 TABLE OF CONTENTS, 1882. 
 
 January. 
 
 page 
 
 36. ^Estheticism 1 
 
 37. Florence 1,3 
 
 38. The Suez canal 3 
 
 February. 
 
 39. Henry Wadsworth Long- 
 
 fellow 5 
 
 40. The Roman catacombs, 5, 7 
 
 41. The Nibelungenlied. .. 7 
 
 March. 
 
 42. The German empire. . . 9 
 
 43. Elements of unity in 
 
 Southeastern Europe. 9, 11 
 
 April. 
 
 44. The Chinese in the 
 
 United States 13 
 
 45. The Venus of Melos. . . 13 
 
 46. Burke and the French 
 
 revolution 13 
 
 May. 
 
 47. Darwin and his scien- 
 
 tific influence 15, 17 
 
 48. Emerson's philosophi- 
 
 cal position 17 
 
 June. 
 
 49. The last years of the 
 
 Roman republic ... 19, 21 
 
 June — Continued. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 50. University education 
 
 in Germany 21 
 
 July. 
 
 51. Local self-government, 
 
 23, 25 
 
 52. European interests in 
 
 Egypt 25 
 
 August. 
 
 53. The national banks 27 
 
 54. Tendencies of local 
 
 self - government in 
 the United States. ..27, 29 
 
 September. 
 
 55. Herbert Spencer 31, 33 
 
 56. Wordsworth's poetry. . 33 
 
 October. 
 
 57. Daniel Webster, [1782- 
 
 1852] 35,37 
 
 58. The Gregorian calen- 
 
 dar 37 
 
 November. 
 
 59. Philadelphia [1682- 
 
 1882] 39,41 
 
 December. 
 
 60. Tariff legislation in the 
 
 United States, 43, 45, 47, 49 
 
 61. Transits of Venus. . .. 49 
 
The Library Journal. 
 
 OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE AMERICAN 
 
 LIBRARY ASSOCIATION. 
 General Editor: CHARLES A. CUTTER, 
 
 Librarian, Boston Athena-uni. 
 
 The Library Journal was established in 1876 by the co- 
 operative efforts of the leading librarians on both sides of the 
 Atlantic. Its chief object is to be a practical help to the 
 every -day administration of both large and small libraries, and 
 to effect a saving by enabling library work to be done in the 
 best way, at the lowest cost. The Journal especially meets the 
 needs of the smaller libraries, offering them the costly expe- 
 rience and practical advice of the largest. In refraining from 
 doing imperfectly what is done so well by the several journals 
 specially devoted to antiquarian or purely historical interests, 
 the Library Journal is enabled to give its chief attention to 
 modern bibliography and current literature, as represented in 
 its departments of "Bibliography" (proper), " Library Econ- 
 omy and History," "Anonyms and Pseudonyms," the " Library 
 Purchase List," and " Literature for the Young" (a new de- 
 partment edited by Miss C. M. Hewins, Librarian of Hartford 
 Library Association). 
 
 The Library Journal and the Monthly Notes of the Library 
 Association 0/ the United Kingdom (established in 1880), are 
 the only periodical publications in the English language that 
 are devoted exclusively to library interests. Although the ex- 
 ponents of the library experience of two countries, both jour 
 nals are in so small a measure limited to national or local in- 
 terests, and their general library and bibliographical informa- 
 tion is so predominant, that both Journals should be in the 
 hands of every English-speaking librarian, as inseparable com- 
 panions. 
 
 Published monthly. Price of subscription, $3 per annum. 
 Sample copies furnished on application. Address 
 
 F. LEYPOLDT, Publisher, 
 
 31 and 32 Park Row, New York. 
 
The Library Journal. 
 
 " Aims at supplying that want of a means of mutual com- 
 munication, suggestion, and discussion which intelligent and 
 active librarians have long felt. There is no reason why the 
 Journal should not be as much read on this as on the other 
 side of the Atlantic. To every librarian who wishes to bring 
 his library to the most perfect method and highest degree of 
 usefulness, it bids fair to be invaluable." — Academy (London). 
 
 " Would save money and time wherever libraries are begun. 
 The whole science ol handling books to the end of their best 
 popular use is expounded in its pages with the knowledge 
 which comes by experience." — Literary World (Boston). 
 
 "The American Library Journal should take its place upon 
 the desk of every librarian and every collector of books, to 
 whom it will furnish more than one useful help." — Journal des 
 De'bats (Paris). 
 
 44 1 consider the Journal one of the most valuable aids to 
 librarians ever undertaken. I do not see how a librarian can 
 venture to undertake his responsibilities without it. Every 
 library, whether public or private, that spends $200 annually on 
 its administration cannot pay out $5 with more advantage to 
 itself than by taking the Journal." — John Eaton, Commissioner 
 of Education. 
 
 44 1 regard the Library Journal as one of the most important 
 and indispensable aids to all who are connected with the man- 
 agement of libraries in any way. True economy of methods, 
 time, and money may be here learned by the young librarian. 
 The practical suggestions and information embodied in a single 
 number are frequently worth ten times the year's subscription." 
 — A.R. Spofford, Librarian of Congress. 
 
 44 The larger libraries, of course, all subscribe for the Library 
 
 r'oumal. I cannot see how any small library' can do without it. 
 am receiving a dozen letters a week from small libraries ask- 
 ing me questions which have been answered fully in the Librarv 
 Journal. My custom is to answer briefly, and refer the inquirers 
 to the Journal, advising them to subscribe for it forthwith."— 
 W. F. Poole, Chicago Public Library. 
 
 44 Its value to smaller libraries is simply incalculable. Limited 
 funds, want of trained assistance, inaccessibility of the best in- 
 formation, either in bibliography or in practical administration, 
 lack of direct counsel from experienced co-laborers — these are 
 all reasons why the smaller libraries should come forward, with- 
 out exception, to the support of a journal which places the latest 
 results of the combined wisdom of the best libraries at their 
 command." — Thomas Vickers, Cincinnati Public Library. 
 
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